Two separate late-night detentions — one of a journalist and the other of a mobile trading association leader — have triggered widespread concern among rights groups, media professionals, and retailers, amid allegations that law enforcement is being used to pressure critics of a controversial new regulatory policy.
The incidents, which unfolded early Wednesday, have intensified fears that midnight operations — long criticised as a tool of intimidation — may be resurfacing under a new administration.
According to family members and witnesses, Daily Bhorer Kagoj Online Editor Mizanur Rahman Sohel and Mobile Business Community Bangladesh (MBCB) General Secretary Abu Sayeed Piyas were both picked up from their homes by individuals identifying themselves as members of the Detective Branch (DB), without warrants, prior summons, or any publicly stated allegations.
Earlier, around 12:15am, several men claiming to be DB officers arrived at Sohel’s residence in Dhaka’s New Badda.
His wife said an officer named Ashraful told her: “The DB chief wants to speak with him. He will be returned after the conversation.”
Then again, the trade leader was detained hours later, around 3am, DB personnel allegedly picked up Piyas from his Mirpur-1 residence, seizing his phone before taking him away. As of Wednesday evening, authorities had offered no official explanation for the detention.
Members of the mobile handset retail community have linked both pickups to their vocal opposition to the government’s planned rollout of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR).
The unexplained late-night pickup has drawn sharp criticism from media groups, which called the incident “a troubling return to past patterns of intimidation.”
Legal experts and rights organisations note that detaining individuals late at night without warrants, charges, or transparent procedures raises serious concerns about due process.
Traders and journalists warn that the latest incidents cast a shadow not only over the NEIR rollout but also over the broader question of whether Bangladesh is witnessing a re-emergence of coercive tactics in political and policy disputes.
As one rights advocate put it: “If the tools of intimidation survive every political transition, then the problem is not who is in power — but what power is allowed to do.”
Small and mid-level traders argue that the NEIR system — allegedly being pushed by a “specific syndicate” and facilitated by Fayez Ahmed Tayeb, special assistant to the chief adviser on Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology — will severely harm their businesses and force many to shut down.
Both men had been assisting preparations for a scheduled MBCB press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Wednesday to formally express objections to the policy.
Organisers claim the detentions were timed to disrupt the event.
“This wasn’t law enforcement. This was intimidation,” one organiser said. “The timing tells the whole story.”
Regarding these issues, different observers note that under the previous Sheikh Hasina administration, late-night detentions of journalists and critics were frequently reported.
Human rights advocates warn that such tactics reappearing under a new government signal a worrying trend.
A senior editor, requesting anonymity, said: “If journalists are once again being summoned in the dark of night, we are heading in the wrong direction. Democratic governments do not operate like this.”
Several traders and critics claim that individuals “aligned with or close to the current power circle surrounding Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus” are exerting influence over NEIR’s push and its enforcement.
What is the DB saying?
DB Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam confirmed Dhaka Tribune that Sohel was brought to the DB office for questioning based on “specific information,” but declined to explain why the interrogation required a midnight operation.
Responding to questions about NEIR, DB chief Shafiqul Islam said: “If they take the IMEI number of the mobile into their custody, mobile theft will increase… BTRC is taking measures for the good of the common people. The government can ask about this.”
On the timing of the pickups, he said both men were simply “called in for questioning.”
He confirmed Sohel’s release and said Piyas would also be returned after discussions.
What ICT ministry saying?
However, the ICT ministry issued a press statement on November 19 rejecting the allegations as “baseless and politically motivated.”
Taiyeb said: “We are implementing NEIR in the interest of national discipline and security. The BTRC has held multiple meetings with stakeholders to curb the use of illegal handsets.”
He noted that despite these efforts, “certain online news portals intentionally tried to implicate me based on a Facebook post. Law enforcement agencies operate independently.”
According to him, a vested group — frustrated at not receiving personal favours — has launched a smear campaign against him.
Taiyeb further clarified that he has no personal or professional ties with journalist Mizanur. “Yet such propaganda undermines freedom of expression,” he said.
He added that spreading misinformation creates unnecessary public confusion and expressed hope that people would no longer be misled by unfounded claims.
What is journalist Sohel saying?
After being released from custody on Wednesday morning, Mizanur Rahman Sohel posted a lengthy statement on Facebook, offering a detailed description of his time in custody.
He said he was held for “nearly ten and a half hours without any crime or allegation,” placed in a cell with other detainees, and even asked to remove his shoes and belt.
Sohel wrote that neither the officers who picked him up nor senior DB officials could explain why he had been detained.
Only after hours, he claimed, did he learn that a government adviser had “ordered” his detention to help a group of nine mobile traders secure a monopoly.
He said the attempt to stop the press conference ultimately backfired: “The whole country has now learned what they wanted to hide.”
Sohel also alleged that implementing NEIR would push 25,000 retailers toward collapse, harm rural consumers and expatriates, and benefit only “nine traders — one of whom is a school friend of the adviser.”
He questioned: “Was it necessary to drag me out of my home in the middle of the night merely to stop a press conference? Is this the true picture of freedom of expression?”
He expressed gratitude to colleagues, friends, and well-wishers whose public outcry, he believes, contributed to his release.
