2 ex-army officers sent to jail after remand over sedition charges

 
A Dhaka court on Friday sent retired Lieutenant Colonel Debashish Kumar Barua and retired Lieutenant Gulshan Ara to jail after the completion of their four-day remand in a case filed under the sedition, anti-terrorism and cyber security laws.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan passed the order after the investigation officer sought their detention in jail. Abu Bakkar Siddique, an assistant sub-inspector of the prosecution department, confirmed the development.

Detectives arrested the two retired military officers from separate locations in Dhaka on Sunday night. Police later filed the case through Ali Akbar, an inspector of the Detective Branch’s Pallabi zonal team.

On Monday, the court granted four days of remand against a seven-day request. After the remand ended, Inspector Sheikh Bashir Ahmed of the DB’s Cyber and Special Crime (South) division produced the accused before the court and sought their detention in jail.

Their lawyers, Md Ataur Rahman Khan Ruku and Md Mashiur Rahman, sought bail, while state prosecutor Kawsar Ahmed opposed the petitions. The court rejected the bail pleas and ordered their detention.

According to the case statement, the accused allegedly operated from their residences and were involved in WhatsApp groups named “Bangladesh Awami League Supporters Alpha” and “BBM Transparency”. The complaint alleges that the groups collected funds and produced and circulated digital content intended to incite violence and oppose the government.

The complaint further alleges that the accused maintained links with retired army officers and platforms named “Unity Care and Public Parliament”, as well as former army chief Aziz, a former home minister and other fugitive senior political leaders. It accuses them of conspiring to rehabilitate the Awami League and engaging in activities investigators described as offences against the state.

The case statement also alleges that the accused used a page named “Kalajkal.com” and Facebook accounts to circulate content intended to incite violence and destabilise the country.

It further alleges that Gulshan Ara joined more than 150 retired army officers in visiting Ganabhaban on November 27, 2018, ahead of the national election, where they publicly expressed solidarity with and allegiance to then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.