State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has claimed that nearly 100,000 SIM cards from identified locations around the country entered Dhaka and its vicinity during the three days of violence in the capital related to the quota reform movement.
“Government did not shut down the internet, although the internet was disrupted,” he said at the inauguration of the "Tree Planting for Peace" program in the capital on the occasion of Prime Minister's ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy's birthday on Saturday.
In the context of the clashes that began due to the demand for quota reform, broadband internet connectivity was disrupted from 8:45pm on July 18.
Regarding this, Palak said: “The government did not shut down the internet. In Mohakhali, three data centres house 70% of the servers for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
“Out of the country's 34 International Internet Gateways (IIGs), 18 are hosted in these three data centres. Two days later, they found out that some submarine cables on the Dhaka-Chittagong route were burned because they were exposed,” he added.
Mobile internet services were also disrupted due to the shutdown of 4G networks from midnight on July 17. Although broadband connectivity was restored on July 23, mobile internet is still down.
Regarding this, the minister said: “There will be a meeting with mobile phone operators on Sunday morning. Based on the discussion, 4G will be reopened between Sunday and Monday.”
He said that through data analysis, they found that BNP, Jamaat, Shibir, and Chhatra Dal had conducted terrorist activities in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. At that time, red alerts were issued in 20 spots, including Gobindganj in Gaibandha, Mithapukur in Rangpur, Nilphamari, Chapainawabganj, and Satkhira. However, no violence occurred in those areas on July 18, 19, and 20.
During those three days, nearly one lakh new SIM cards from these areas entered 10–15 locations in Dhaka, according to the minister.
He said: “Data analysis revealed that the identified militants from these areas, associated with BNP, Chhatra Dal, Jamaat, and Shibir, were heading towards Dhaka during these days.
“Their locations were in areas like Uttara, Rampura, Mohammadpur, Jatrabari, Narayanganj, and Gazipur,” he added.