A Dhaka court has turned down bail for retired army officers lieutenant colonel Debashish Kumar Barua and lieutenant Gulshan Ara, sending them to jail on sedition charges.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan passed the order on Friday after four days of questioning, following a request from investigators, according to Prosecution Division Sub-Inspector Abu Bakar Siddique.
Detective Branch (DB) police arrested the two from separate locations in Dhaka late on Sunday, Oct 11. Inspector Ali Akbar of the DB’s Pallabi Zonal Team filed the case.
The next day, police sought seven days of grilling, but the court granted four.
When the pair were produced in court on Friday after the questioning, investigating officer Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, an inspector of the DB’s Cyber and Special Crime (South) Division, asked for them to be held in jail.
Defence lawyers Ataur Rahman Khan Ruku and Mashiur Rahman pleaded for bail, while Kawser Ahmed opposed it for the state. The court rejected the bail petitions and ordered the two to be jailed.
According to the case statement, the accused operated from their homes and raised funds through anti-government WhatsApp groups named “Bangladesh Awami League Supporters Alpha” and “BBM Transparency”.
It also alleged that they maintained links with former army chief Aziz Ahmed and fugitive leaders of the banned Awami League through platforms named “Unity Care” and “Public Parliament”, with the aim of rehabilitating the party and plotting crimes against the state.
They are also accused of setting up a page called “Kal-Aajkal.com” to produce content stoking violence and instability in a bid to destabilise the country, and of using Facebook IDs to promote and run anti-state activities.
Gulshan is accused of going to the Ganabhaban on Nov 27, 2018, on the eve of the election with more than 150 retired army officers to show solidarity and allegiance to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
She also allegedly formed a committee called “Bangabandhu Sena Parishad” with 101 co-accused.
The organisation was used mainly to spread hatred among people of different walks of life, create unrest, and sow contempt for the government on social media and talk shows, the case documents allege.
Since Aug 5, 2024, the accused and their associates have allegedly been running a campaign of conspiracy and smears against the government and Bangladesh.
The first information report (FIR) also alleges they have links with local and foreign spies.