Two arrested former army officers placed on 4-day remand
Two arrested former army officers, Debashish Kumar Barua and Kazi Gulshan Ara, were produced before a Dhaka court today, Monday. Photo: Agamir Somoy
Two Retired army officers, Lt. Col. Debashish Kumar Barua and retired Lt. Gulshan Ara were brought before a Dhaka court on Monday after being arrested under the Cyber Security and Anti-Terrorism laws.
Inspector Sheikh Bashir Ahmed of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB), the investigation officer in the case, sought a seven-day remand for questioning the two accused. Their lawyers, meanwhile, sought bail.
After the hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Didarul Alam ordered four-day remand each.
The two former army officers were arrested during a police raid on Sunday night.
In his remand petition, the investigation officer said the two accused needed to be questioned extensively to obtain information on five issues.
The petition said the remand was necessary to identify the names, addresses and whereabouts of their alleged associates; identify domestic and foreign backers involved in alleged sedition; locate digital evidence related to the incident; determine whether the accused operated any other anti-state websites or pages; and uncover the main motive behind the case and prevent the implementation of alleged anti-state plans.
The allegations against Debashish Barua and Gulshan Ara are that they operated from their residence and participated in WhatsApp groups opposing the government, named “Bangladesh Awami League Supporters Alpha” and “BBM Transparency.” They are accused of raising funds and creating digital content that allegedly incited violence, which they then circulated across various platforms.
The Awami League, which was ousted from power during the student-led mass uprising in 2024, is currently barred from carrying out its activities.
The current government has repeatedly alleged that supporters of the party are pursuing various efforts to destabilize the country.
It has also been alleged that Debashish Barua and Gulshan Ara were working to rehabilitate Awami League in the country.
It is claimed that through the Unity Care and Public Parliament platform, formed with retired army officers, they were in contact with former army chief General (retd.) Aziz Ahmed, former home minister, and fugitive top leaders of Awami League, and were involved in the rehabilitation of Awami League and anti-state organized criminal conspiracy.
Detective police also claim that they were creating content capable of inciting violence and instability through a Facebook page named "KalaAjkalDotCom" and were propagating and conducting anti-state activities using Facebook IDs.
In the remand application, the investigating officer further claimed that when Sheikh Hasina was Prime Minister, Gulshan Ara went to Ganabhaban with more than one and a half hundred retired army officers and expressed solidarity with and loyalty to the then government. Later, she formed a committee of an organization named "Sena Parishad" with 101 associates.
Detective police also allege that this organization was now trying to create hatred by spreading animosity among various classes and groups in the country, causing riots and unrest, and expressing hatred and contempt toward the government.
