A young man who spent 10 hours at a police station in Sylhet’s Companiganj over a Facebook post criticising Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury has been released into the custody of a local BNP leader.
Jubayer Ahmed was released around 12:30am on Tuesday into the custody of Shawkat Ali Babul, senior vice-president of Companiganj upazila BNP.
Earlier, Babul and upazila BNP General Secretary Ali Akbar had taken Jubayer to Companiganj police station for questioning.
Jubayer, a stone trader, is from Kalabari village in the upazila.
Companiganj police station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Usman Gani confirmed his release, saying police had verified the authenticity of the Facebook posts and comments published from Jubayer’s account and investigated whether anyone else had used it.
He said Jubayer had not been formally arrested and was released into Babul’s custody after questioning.
According to local sources, Jubayer posted a photograph of Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury on Facebook last Saturday, accompanied by a critical comment.
“Everything was supposed to return to normal on the 13th, following the election on the 12th. Yet, nothing was resolved. The honourable minister has made our lives increasingly difficult,” the post read.
Local sources said Ali Akbar and Babul took Jubayer to the police station on Tuesday, where police questioned him over the post. The post was no longer visible after he was taken to the station.
When contacted, Ali Akbar and Babul said police were handling the matter and declined to comment further.
The OC initially said Jubayer had surrendered at the police station. He later confirmed that the young man had been brought in over a Facebook post.
Asked why someone would surrender over a Facebook post, the OC said: “Exactly! Why would he surrender? We have brought him in for questioning. He has not even been formally arrested yet.”
Asked about the reason for the questioning, he said police were acting within the law and checking whether Jubayer had committed an offence or someone else had used his mobile phone to publish the post.