Police have arrested Md Shariful Islam, 40, the sixth-named suspect in a case filed over banners put up to mark August 15 in Kotchandpur, Jhenaidah.
The case names 15 people as suspects, including two leaders of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League and the district Swechchhasebak League, with a further 8 to 10 people listed as unidentified. Md Azim Hossain, joint general secretary of the district Chhatra Dal and a resident of Gabtala Para in Kotchandpur municipal area, filed the case as plaintiff at Kotchandpur Model Police Station on Monday night.
Shariful was arrested from his home later that night. Kotchandpur police station recovered the two banners from the scene.
The case names banned Awami Chhatra League leader Md Nasir Uddin Shuvo, 40; district Swechchhasebak League information and research secretary Sheikh Shahin, 28; Obaidul Haque, 25; Swapan Gazi, 27; Md Rubayet Islam Rahul, 27; Md Shariful Islam, 40; Kalam, 40; Nayan Ali, 23; Akash, 22; Nahid, 22; Manmoy, 25; Emon, 22; Md Shafin, 26; Emon Hossain Don, 27; and Apu Sheikh, 29, as accused. A further 8 to 10 unidentified individuals have also been named as accused.
According to the case’s First Information Report (FIR), two banners were put up between roughly 4:00 and 4:40 a.m. on August 15, in front of the gate of Kotchandpur Upazila Parishad and beside a road adjoining the abandoned upazila office of the banned Awami League. The banners bore images of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and those killed on August 15, alongside a photograph of Nasir Uddin Shuvo.
The plaintiff alleges that the other accused acted in a coordinated group to put up the two banners, financed by Nasir Uddin Shuvo and directed by Sheikh Shahin. The FIR states that they chanted various anti-government slogans at the time and were engaged in a conspiracy to spread fear among the public and disrupt the country’s stability and security. The accused fled the scene when local residents approached.
The case’s investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Delwar Hossain of Kotchandpur Model Police Station, said the case was filed under the relevant sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 (Amendment 2026) and remains under investigation. The allegations in the FIR are being investigated, he said. The sixth-named accused in the FIR has already been arrested; operations to arrest the other accused are ongoing.
Md Azad Rahman, officer-in-charge of Kotchandpur Model Police Station, said the case was filed over allegations of putting up banners of a banned party, chanting anti-government slogans, and creating an unstable situation.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report