A Dhaka court has ordered former secretary Abu Alam Mohammad Shahid Khan to be sent to jail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
On Monday (8 September), Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Saifuzzaman passed the order after a hearing. Police produced Shahid Khan at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court earlier in the day and kept him in custody before seeking his detention in jail as part of the investigation, said SI Md Toufiq Hasan of Shahbagh Police Station.
Police said Khan was arrested late Sunday night in connection with the case.
According to the case statement, the charges stem from the “Mancha 71” platform, launched on 5 August, which allegedly conspired to erase and distort the history of Bangladesh’s Liberation War. On 28 August, a roundtable discussion was held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), where police claimed the group promoted a conspiracy to destabilize the country and overthrow the interim government through armed struggle.
Earlier, police detained former minister Abdul Latif Siddiqi along with 15 others during the DRU event. The following day, they were shown arrested in the case filed by SI Amirul Islam of Shahbagh Police.
