Tribune Desk
A Dhaka court on Thursday granted bail to Mohammad Sarwar-e-Alam, an assistant programmer at Bangabhaban, in a case filed under the Cyber Security Ordinance Act over the alleged hacking of the X (formerly Twitter) account of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman.
After a hearing on 5 February, Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Mohammad Zunaid granted Sarwar bail on a bond of Tk5,000.
Sarwar’s lawyer, Alamgir Hossain, submitted the bail petition, while Md Abdur Razzaque, counsel for the complainant, opposed the bail and argued for its cancellation.
During the hearing, the complainant’s lawyer alleged that Sarwar acted “as a ghost of the autocratic regime” and accused him of hacking the account to create chaos in the country. He claimed the act was intended to provoke female voters by using the name of the Jamaat Ameer and said the incident was part of an attempt to destabilise the country.
Addressing the investigating officer in court, the complainant’s lawyer questioned why police had not sought remand for the accused. “In this country, even for stealing vegetables, seven to eight days of remand are sought. I do not know why remand was not sought in this case,” he said, adding that Sarwar’s actions warranted custodial interrogation.
The public prosecutor also opposed bail, stating that there were specific allegations against the accused. He argued that Sarwar should be sent to jail for the time being and that remand could be sought later if necessary during the investigation.
Speaking before the court, Sarwar denied the allegations. “I am making this statement with full awareness. I am due to retire in a few days. At this stage of my life, I have not committed any such acts,” he said. Claiming innocence, he added that he had cooperated fully with police and provided all necessary information for the investigation.
When asked by the court about his arrest, Sarwar said he was detained from his residence around 10:00pm on February 3.
After the hearing, Sarwar’s wife, Shamim Ara, also spoke in court, asserting her husband’s innocence. She said he had served in government service with honour for 32 years and had no political involvement.
“Even a child would understand that no hacker would use his own address to carry out hacking,” she said. “If he had been involved in politics, it would have come to light at some point during the 17 years of the Awami League’s tenure or even earlier.”
She added that Sarwar lived a simple life centred around work and family and was nearing retirement. “Would any person knowingly do something that would destroy his own future?” she asked.
According to the case statement, Sarwar-e-Alam and 15–20 unidentified individuals allegedly hacked Dr Shafiqur Rahman's official X account at around 5pm on 31 January and posted objectionable content containing misogyny, obscenity, ethnic violence, hate speech and incitement to unrest. The account was restored shortly afterward.
