A Dhaka court today (14 October) sent ANM Ayas, member secretary of the State Dialogue Forum, and Marzia Khandaker Rimi to jail after they completed their remand in a case over an attempt to deface a graffiti portrait of Rabindranath Tagore on a wall outside Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital's Segunbagicha.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Riad Hasan passed the order after rejecting their bail petitions, Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi confirmed.
The case involves allegations of criminal conspiracy, spreading hatred and hurting religious sentiments.
Earlier in the day, the two were produced before the court after completing their remand. Investigation officer Abdul Gaffar Himel, a sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station, sought their detention in jail until the investigation was completed and their names and addresses were verified.
In the detention application, the investigation officer said police had obtained important information about other accused who remain at large during the two suspects' remand, and that the information was being verified.
The application also said the two might need to be taken into police custody again for further, more intensive questioning in the interest of the investigation.
Defence lawyers, including Monir Hossain Sumon, sought bail, while the prosecution opposed the petitions. The hearing was disrupted by a commotion between prosecution and defence lawyers. Following the incident, the magistrate left the courtroom for his chamber.
He returned to the bench about six minutes later and delivered the order.
Two other accused in the case, Sakibul Hasan and Sujon, were sent to jail on 13 October after completing their remand.
On 11 October, the court had granted two days of remand for Rimi and Sujon and three days for Ayas and Sakibul Hasan.
The case stems from an incident on 10 October, when Ayas and a group of young people went to erase a graffiti portrait of Tagore painted on a wall outside Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha. Police intervened, and four people, including Ayas, were detained following an altercation.
A video of the incident circulating on social media shows a woman applying ink to Tagore's portrait before a police officer intervenes to stop her. In the video, the woman is heard saying that they had gathered to protest "Indian aggression". The group is also heard chanting slogans under Ayas's leadership.
The portraits of Tagore, national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, artist Zainul Abedin, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and five other prominent figures from art, literature and culture were painted on a wall beside the footpath after Dhaka South City Corporation cleared the area of encroachment on 5 October.
On 9 October, a Facebook page named July Revolutionary Alliance questioned the inclusion of figures such as Satyajit Ray and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, describing them as cultural figures from West Bengal. The following day, a group led by Ayas went to erase the portraits.