Police detained four people, including a woman, on Saturday over an incident in which ink was applied to a graffiti portrait of Rabindranath Tagore on a wall outside the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha, Dhaka.
The detainees include ANM Ayas, member secretary of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum, alongside two other young men and a woman.
They were taken into custody at around 12:00pm following a disturbance at the scene.
A video circulating on social media shows the woman using a brush to apply ink to Tagore’s portrait before a Shahbagh police officer intervenes and moves her away from the wall.
The woman and her associates subsequently created a commotion, prompting officers to detain them and place them in a police van while chanting slogans.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, the woman initially described Tagore as being “against Bangladesh” and said she had defaced the portrait in protest.
However, when pressed further by journalists, she changed her account, claiming she was unwell and suffering from a fever.
She asserted that she had been brought to the Shilpakala Academy under the impression she would participate in a “general protest programme” and had not been informed beforehand that she would be expected to deface Tagore’s portrait.
She also alleged that a male police officer had pushed her during the detention.
A separate scuffle broke out when police attempted to place Ayas into the vehicle following his detention.
Shahbagh Police Station duty officer Mohammad Abdul Khalek confirmed to TIMES that three young men, including Ayas, and a woman had been detained and brought to the police station at approximately 12:30pm.
Asked whether legal action would be pursued, Khalek noted that no decision regarding a formal case had yet been made and that senior officials would determine the next course of action.
The four detainees were subsequently transferred from Shahbagh Police Station to the Detective Branch (DB) office of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
DMP Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Jahidul Islam said that the woman had been taken into custody primarily as a preventive measure due to concerns that she might cause public disorder.
The incident occurred just five days after the Dhaka South City Corporation cleared encroachments from the footpath in Segunbagicha on 5 October.
Following the eviction drive, portraits of ten prominent figures who contributed significantly to art, literature, and culture were painted on the adjacent wall, featuring figures such as Zainul Abedin, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
