97 people arrested in 51 cases
Dhaka Metropolitan Police said they have yet arrested 97 people in 51 cases filed in the capital with various police stations in a massive crackdown since the students’ movement demanding road safety.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) made the information public on Wednesday and said the arrestees had helped roll rumours on social media, thereby instigating protests during road safety movement.
Among the cases, 81 were arrested in 43 cases filed under penal code and Special Powers Act, deputy DMP commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman told the media.
Meanwhile, Police on Tuesday and Wednesday arrested two students in Dhaka on charges of making provocative remarks on the social media during the road safety movement.
One of them, Nazmus Sakib, 24, is from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh or ULAB and the other, Ahmad Hossain, 19, is from Jamia Nuria Madrasa at Kamrangirchar.
Confirming the matter, Senior Assistant Commissioner Sharmin Jahan of CID told the Daily Observer that the Cyber Crime Unit of CID police arrested them.
“The court also granted three days’ remand for each in a case filed under the ICT Act 57 (2) and 66 with the Paltan Police Station,” she added.
“They conducted a provocative propaganda centring the students’ movement on the social media, which was harmful for the state. We arrested them after gathering information,” she said.
On early Wednesday, police also arrested Lutfunnahar Luma, an Eden College student and a leader of protesters seeking reforms to quota system.
The cybercrime unit of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit and members of Belkuchi Police Station arrested her from her grandfather’s house in Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj district, officer-in-charge Mohammad Abdur Rajjak of Belkuchi Police Station said.
According to the information released by DMP police, 31 people arrested in 14 cases filed with Ramna Division, one arrested in one case with Lalbag, two cases were filed with Wari where one person was arrested, six were filed with Motijheel and 10 were arrested, two with Tejgaon and six arrested, nine with Gulshan and 26 arrested, four with Uttara and 3 arrested, five with Mirpur and eight with other police stations.
University students joined the protests at the end of the movement of students of schools and colleges, triggered by the deaths of two of their peers in a road crash in Dhaka on July 29, bringing the capital to a halt for over a week.
Students took to the streets for eight days in a row – besieging the capital and blockading the streets for hours – before things rolled over to violence in the end.
A total of 22 students of private universities, internationally famed photographer Shahidul Alam, and a local actress Qazi Nawshaba Ahmed have been put behind bars in this connection.
Notable, local and international calls have been placed to the government for stopping arbitrary arrests and releasing the detainees – all of which were unheeded. Another student of BUET has also been arrested over ‘Facebook rumours’.
