A Dhaka court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of former officer-in-charge (OC) of Cantonment Police Station Rakibul Hasan in a sedition case.
During a hearing at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Monirul Islam on Thursday, lawyer Morshed Hossain Shaheen sought bail for Rakibul Hasan. Shaheen later said the court rejected the bail petition.
The court granted Rakibul Hasan 5 days of remand last Thursday and 2 days on Monday. After the remand ended, he was sent to jail on Wednesday.
Earlier, an audio recording of former Cantonment Police Station OC Rakibul Hasan went viral on social media. In the recording, a conversation involving Rakibul Islam about the return of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in the mass movement of students and the public and is staying in India, could be heard.
After the audio went viral, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) formed a 3-member investigation committee. Members of the committee subsequently questioned him at the Detective Branch office.
Later, Inspector Subrata Debnath of the same police station filed a case against him, and he was shown arrested and sent on remand.
Recently, another audio recording in the name of former Cantonment Police Station OC Rakibul went viral on social media. In the recording, Rakibul Islam could be heard criticizing the government, administration, army and police over various issues, including the return of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in the mass movement of students and the public and is staying in India.
In the audio circulated in the name of OC Rakibul, a person could be heard saying: “The police on the streets are very weak. If Sheikh Hasina returns in December, they will not be able to do anything.”
The person also claimed in the audio: “Senior police officials are leaning towards the BNP, but field-level police members are not doing so.”
The audio also contained discussion about allegations of bribes in police postings. However, it could not be confirmed whether the audio circulated in Rakibul’s name was actually his.
After the audio drew widespread criticism, the DMP initially withdrew Rakibul from Cantonment Police.
