Officials of Bangladesh Police's Immigration Services detained Mian Jahidul Islam alias Arefy, who had recently identified himself as an advisor to US President Joe Biden, at Dhaka airport on Sunday afternoon.
Arefy was supposed to fly out to Washington via Doha on a connecting flight of Qatar Airways at 5:30pm, officials told Dhaka Tribune.
They said Arefy had been wearing a mask to evade airport security. After he checked in at the airport, Immigration Services officials detained him as he was acting suspiciously.
Arefy frequently visited Bangladesh according to his passport, said immigration officials.
Later, Immigration Services turned him over to the Detective Branch (DB) of police for questioning.
On Saturday (October 28) evening, Arefy went to the BNP’s central office in Naya Paltan and spoke to reporters introducing himself as an adviser to Biden. BNP leader Ishraque Hossain was present at the time.
An officer of the Detective Branch of police said Arefy was being brought to the DB headquarters on Minto Road in Dhaka for questioning.
Arefy, also known as Bellal, is a Bangladeshi American who lives in Maryland, US. He was born and raised in Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj and often visits Bangladesh, according to sources.
After a clash with police that foiled the BNP’s rally on Saturday, Arefy turned up at the BNP’s central office and assured opposition supporters of the US president’s support to ensure a leadership change in Bangladesh.
Sitting with several BNP leaders, Arefy even went ahead to claim that Biden was in full favour of the restoration of the caretaker government.
He also bragged about his day-to-day contact with State Department and US embassy officials in Bangladesh.
A US embassy spokesperson later on Saturday night said, referring to Arefy, that he did not speak for the US government and was a private individual.