Father, son in DB custody over Facebook ‘Threat’ during PM's Rajshahi visit
A man and his father have been arrested by law enforcers over a threat the man made on a facebook post involving Prime Minister. Collected photo.
A photo related to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to Rajshahi was posted on Facebook. Seeing the photo, a college student from Rajshahi commented, “What a pity! There was a great opportunity, only a sniper was missing.” His threatening remark sparked widespread discussion.
The following day which was Wednesday, law enforcement personnel conducted an operation and detained the young man. His father was later taken into custody as well. Both father and son are currently in the custody of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB).
The detained young man is Abu Bakar Siddique, 22, a resident of the Kechuatail area under Chandrima Police Station in Rajshahi city. His father, Ainal Haque, is a farmer. Abu Bakar is a first-year student in the History Department at Rajshahi New Government Degree College.
These details were provided by Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Ishtiaq, commander of SRB-5. He said, “We have handed both of them over to the DB. They will provide further details about the matter later.”
Local residents said Abu Bakar transports vegetables by a van alongside his studies. He regularly performs the five daily prayers and is known in the neighbourhood as a good young man. He is also associated with a group of bikers and often travels to distant places by motorcycle with its members.
Abu Bakar’s mother, Asmaul Husna, claimed that her son is innocent, hardworking and talented. She alleged that he was being framed in the case.
According to local residents, a team from the Cyber Crime Unit of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police and Chandrima Police Station visited Abu Bakar’s house around 2pm on Wednesday. However, he was not there. Family members declined to disclose his whereabouts.
Later, at around 4pm, a team from SRB-5 conducted an operation at the house in plain clothes. Unable to find Abu Bakar, they detained his father, Ainal, for questioning. At one point, Ainal revealed that his son was hiding at his maternal uncle’s house in the Gholharia area of Hatramchandrapur Gholhariya village in Paba Upazila of the district.
SRB personnel subsequently visited the house with Ainal and detained Abu Bakar. In addition to taking the father and son into custody, the team seized a mobile phone used by the family. They were later handed over to the DB.
On Thursday morning, Chandrima Police Station personnel searched Abu Bakar’s house. The search, led by Officer-in-Charge Monirul Islam, lasted about an hour. However, the police found no evidence worth seizing. They confiscated only the package of a pen drive.
Police also attempted to recover a laptop allegedly used by Abu Bakar. However, family members claimed that he did not use a laptop.
Various accounts have emerged regarding Abu Bakar’s political affiliations. Shariful Islam, an assistant professor in the History Department at Rajshahi New Government Degree College, said, “Abu Bakar is a regular student of the college. He has sat for his first-year final examinations, but the results have not yet been published.”
The teacher said he had never observed any misconduct by Abu Bakar at the college.
Shariful Islam said he had spoken to several students after learning about the Facebook comment. They told him that Abu Bakar’s father had previously supported the Awami League but had been associating with Jamaat-e-Islami members since August 5. He also heard that Abu Bakar had been involved with the Bangladesh Chhatra League through his family connections. However, the teacher said he had never witnessed any political activities by Abu Bakar on campus.
Mahmud Hasan Limon, president of the Chhatra Dal unit at Rajshahi New Government Degree College, said, “I heard from people in the administration that Abu Bakar was previously involved with the Chhatra League and is now reportedly involved with Chhatra Shibir. However, I have not seen anything myself at the college. We did not really know him that well either.”
However, Imran Nazir, president of the Rajshahi metropolitan unit of Chhatra Shibir, denied that Abu Bakar was associated with the organisation.
He said, “There is an ongoing attempt to blame Shibir whenever something happens. But Abu Bakar Siddique is not one of our members.”
Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Chandrima Police Station, said there was no information indicating whether Abu Bakar had ever been arrested before. Police also had no information about any cases filed against him. He added that the police had no information about Abu Bakar’s political affiliations either.
The incident involving Abu Bakar’s Facebook comment began last Tuesday. During his visit to Rajshahi that day, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman travelled from the airport to Madrasa Ground, attended a religious gathering there and then returned to the airport. During his journey, he used a bus belonging to Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET). Large crowds lined both sides of the road to greet him, and the prime minister responded to their greetings.
Later, a Facebook page named “The Beauty of Rajshahi” posted a photograph of the prime minister sitting inside the bus. In the comments section, an account under the name Abu Bakar Siddique wrote, “What a pity! There was a great opportunity, only a sniper was missing.”
He was detained the following day. His father was also taken into custody. Both were subsequently brought to Dhaka and handed over to the Detective Branch (DB).
However, the relevant authorities have not provided detailed information about any specific case filed against them or the subsequent legal steps taken following their detention.
