Five VIP suspects, arrested and remanded in two separate murder cases filed with New Market and Paltan police stations, are being interrogated by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, with most denying having a hand in violence during the recent quota reform movement.
Among them, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's private industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman, former law minister Anisul Huq, former deputy speaker Shamsul Haque Tuku and former state minister for information and technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak are on a 10-day remand.
Additionally, former military officer and National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre chief Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan is being interrogated under an eight-day remand.
DMP sources say the cases are still under investigation by the police stations, but these VIP suspects are being held at the DB office on Minto Road due to their status. There, they are being grilled by senior officials of the DMP as well as the investigating officers.
A source familiar with the matter said Palak had denied responsibility for the internet shutdowns during the recent student movement, saying that despite being a state minister, he had not possessed sole authority to make such a decision.
During interrogation, Palak claimed that he had decided to shut down the internet following instructions from Ziaul Ahsan. He further added that the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina had also approved the internet shutdown decision.
The source said among the VIP suspects, Palak was the most overcome with emotions; he could not imagine the government would fall so quickly.
However, he admitted that he had sent his wife and children abroad a day before. Palak said he could have fled the country too but had chosen not to, as it would have been an act of “betrayal” against Hasina.
The source also mentioned that Anisul Huq had claimed his innocence regarding the use of excessive force during the student-people movement.
He argued that he had almost brought the quota reform movement under control, but former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan had used the police to try to suppress the movement, leading to the failure in controlling the situation.
Anisul also blamed some overzealous police officers, saying the indiscriminate shooting by law enforcement had been a mistake, as it had intensified the movement instead of controlling it.
Multiple sources from the DMP said Salman F Rahman and Shamsul Haque Tuku had claimed they had no role in controlling the movement.
They argued that they had not been in a position to give orders to law enforcement to shoot.
Tuku even claimed that he had not been active in politics since becoming deputy speaker.
Due to the sensitivity of interrogating VIP suspects in remand, no officer wanted to comment publicly on the matter.
However, according to an officer from the DMP, all suspects are being kept in DB custody just like other ordinary suspects; they are being provided with necessary medical care, medication and food.
The two cases
On July 16, during the quota reform movement, Aysha Begum filed a case against unidentified persons with New Market police station over the murder of her son, Shahjahan Ali, an employee of a mat shop in New Market.
Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman were arrested on August 13 in the Sadarghat area of Old Dhaka in connection with the case.
Ziaul Ahsan was arrested in the Khilkhet area in the same case on the night of August 15.
Additionally, on July 19, during the quota reform movement, rickshaw puller Kamal Mia, 39, was shot dead in the Paltan area of the capital. The next day, his wife Fatema Khatun filed a murder case against unidentified people with Paltan police station.
In connection with this case, Shamsul Haque Tuku, Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Tanbir Hasan Shaikat, general secretary of the Dhaka University unit of the Chhatra League, were arrested on August 14.