A Dhaka court on Sunday placed Abu Bakar Siddique on a seven-day remand in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act over a Facebook comment allegedly suggesting a sniper attack on a bus used by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during his Rajshahi visit.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque passed the order following a remand plea by the case’s investigation officer.
SI Shah Alam of the prosecution division confirmed the matter.
During the hearing, Siddique told the judge, “I made the comment as a joke.”
Siddique, a second-year honours student at Rajshahi New Degree Government College, was picked up from his home in the Kachuatail area of Paba upazila in Rajshahi late Wednesday night by the Special Response Battalion (SRB).
He was later shown arrested by Detective Branch (DB) of police in the Anti-Terrorism Act case and sent to jail on Friday.
The same day, SI Yasin Paik of the DB’s Cyber and Special Crime Division and also the investigation officer of the case sought a seven-day remand. The court fixed Sunday for the hearing.
Siddique was produced before the court on Sunday.
Seeking the remand, SI Yasin Paik told the court that further interrogation was necessary to obtain information about the accused and his activities.
When the judge asked about Siddique’s political affiliation, the investigation officer said, “No political affiliation has been found. More information may be obtained through remand.”
The judge then asked, “Who is Abu Bakar Siddique?” Siddique, standing in the dock, raised his hand.
Asked whether he had a lawyer, he replied that he did not.
State prosecutor Muhammad Shamsuddoha Sumon argued that the comment could not be dismissed as a joke or an ordinary social media post.
“Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was visiting Rajshahi and travelled by bus to inspect several Puja mandaps. During the visit, the accused made a comment mentioning a sniper on a post,” he said.
“There is a conspiracy to assassinate the prime minister. We need seven days’ remand to question him about the sniper reference and determine who else may be involved,” the prosecutor added.
The court subsequently granted the seven-day remand.
