Police until Wednesday had still not interrogated Mahbubul Alam Minar for allegedly campaigning in refugee camps for the unconditional repatriation of the Rohingya, 17 days after a Cox’s Bazar court granted a two-day remand to the former Jamaat-e-Islami student wing member.
Police said they had been too busy dealing with the ongoing Rohingya influx to bring him into custody for questioning.
The banners called for all displaced Rohingya to be granted safe passage back to Myanmar and compensated for their destroyed homes and seized land.
They also demanded Myanmar’s westernmost Rakhine State adopt the Rohingya name Arakan and create a separate judiciary, and that Muslims there be granted full religious freedoms and rights to education.
Police believe Minar acted alone in hanging the banners – which listed 21 demands in English and Bangla and claimed to represent the previously-unknown Committee on Rohingya Rights Establishment – and in broadcasting his efforts on social media.
According to some social media posts, the local media and even sources in Cox’s Bazar Sadar police station, Minar was apprehended on October 12. The police sources said his remand was ordered three days later.
However, police did not confirm the detention of Minar until October 23. Cox’s Bazar Additional Superintendent of Police Md Afrozul Haq Tutul then revealed it to the media, saying they detained the alleged former member of Islami Chhatra Shibir the previous night.
Interestingly, during a briefing with the local media about the detention, police said Minar could divulge some important pieces of information if interrogated well, and that is why he had been remanded.
But the apparent reluctance of police to remand Minar has obstructed the uncovering of more information from him about his motives for erecting the banners.
Police suspect Minar was attempting to organise the displaced Rohingya people for sabotage, which is why he came up with the 21 demands in the banners hung in different areas of Cox’s Bazar.
According to police, Minar became active as soon as the latest Rohingya influx began on August 25. He collected funds from different people – including many Bangladeshi expatriates in Qatar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia – in the name of providing aid to the Rohingya.
However, he is also accused of using a false identity for the fundraising while in another development, police discovered some digital banners and explosives from his Lalpar home.
As a result of the alleged negligence by police in this case – Minar, the son of Abdur Rashid of Nidania area under Inani union of Ukhia upazila in the district – is currently being held at Cox’s Bazar Jail.
When contacted, Sub-Inspector (SI) Moshiur Rahman of the police station, who is also the investigation officer of the case filed in this regard, said: “While I have been busy providing protocol to the VIPs and performing departmental duties linked to the Rohingya crisis, I could not take Minar on remand.”
The police officer had answered in the same way each time the Dhaka Tribune had reached him for comment by phone over the past week.
The police station OC Ranjit Kumar Barua on Wednesday said: “We are now busier with the Rohingya issue than ever before. But we will take him on remand by today (Wednesday) and conduct proper investigation.”
However, on Wednesday morning SI Moshiur said he would try to take Minar on remand on Thursday.
In primary investigation, police found that Minar along with at least six others were hanging the banners in the tourist city's Lalpar area. All of them but Minar fled the scene when police challenged them, leading to his detention.
Police are yet to identify the absconding ones since Minar has not been interrogated further.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
