The official says he does not know who ordered the nationwide mobile internet shutdown.
TBS Report
11 October, 2026, 08:45 pm
Last modified: 11 October, 2026, 08:48 pm
Former state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak instructed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to shut down or restrict 3G and 4G services at five public universities during the 2024 July Uprising, a BTRC official told the International Crimes Tribunal today (11 October).
Mahdi Ahmad, a deputy director of BTRC, told the tribunal that Palak's instructions were primarily responsible for the restrictions.
He also said then BTRC director general Brig Gen Mustafizur Rahman called him on WhatsApp on the night of 14 July 2024, and informed him that Palak had instructed the then BTRC chairman, Engineer Mohiuddin Ahmed, to shut down or restrict 3G and 4G services at five public universities.
The five universities were Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University, Chittagong University and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet.
According to Mahdi, the instructions were based on information from the home ministry and intelligence agencies.
The services were restored the following morning, he told the tribunal.
On 16 July, similar instructions were issued to restrict 3G and 4G services at all public universities and four private universities, Mahdi testified.
A meeting was held at the BTRC that evening, with then prime minister's ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Palak joining online. Mahdi told the tribunal that the restrictions were later approved retrospectively, and the approval was recorded in official documents that day.
Mahdi also told the tribunal that he did not know who ordered the nationwide mobile internet shutdown.
He said the role of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) in ordering the shutdown was discussed, but he had no direct knowledge of who issued the order.
He testified that at a meeting chaired by Palak on 28 July 2024, then NTMC director general Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan was instructed to restore 3G and 4G services through the four mobile operators.
At the same meeting, the BTRC was instructed to keep cache servers for Facebook, TikTok, Akamai and BAS Network shut down, Mahdi said.
Palak ordered the services restored on 31 July 2024, the BTRC official told the tribunal.