In a daring attempt, an imposter forged a document by Prime Minister’s Office to become a member of the entourage of Sheikh Hasina’s tour in Japan.
One Mohammad Khorshed Alam on Wednesday went to the protocol section of the Foreign Ministry and submitted a fake letter which stipulated that four journalists including him should be members of the premier’s entourage to Japan.
The letter said the four were included in the prime minister’s entourage in addition to the list earlier supplied by her office.
In the letter, Khorshed was described as a reporter of Primenewsbd.com. The others were Mohammad Nazrul Islam, photojournalist of Primenewsbd.com, Mohammad Masud Parvez, reporter of weekly Ajker Surjodoy, and Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, photojournalist of weekly Ajker Surjodoy.
When an enquiry was made from the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office said no such letter was issued. When Foreign Ministry officials asked where he got the letter, Khorshed said a contractor of the Roads and Highways Department named Ratan gave it to him.
When I called Ratan after reaching the Foreign Ministry office, his phone was switched off, said Khorshed.
“We handed Khorshed over to the police,” said a Foreign Ministry official.
The police arrested Khorshed under Section 54 and produced him before court on Thursday requesting a remand order. The court, however, refused the remand plea, sent him to jail, and also instructed police to interrogate him at the jail gate within three days.
An officer of Shahbagh police station said he would be interrogated today or tomorrow.
“We are yet to know his full identity. We only have a national identity card which says he is a resident of Moghbazar area,” he said.
Police are yet to arrest the three others whose names were mentioned in the fake letter, he added.
