Journalist Azhar Ali Sarkar has been arrested and placed on four-day remand for his alleged involvement in hatching conspiracies against the country.
Detective police detained Azhar in Banasree area of the capital on Friday night. Later, he was put on remand when he was produced before a Dhaka court on Saturday.
Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam, chief of the Dhaka Metropolitan DB Police, told TIMES of Bangladesh that Azhar was shown arrested after being taken into custody and subsequently placed on remand as per a court order. He explained that the arrest is linked to an ongoing case involving alleged anti-state activities.
Earlier, police detained US citizen Enayet Karim Chowdhury from Bailey Road’s ‘Ministrypara’ area in the capital. Later, he was shown arrested. A case under the Anti-Terrorism Act was later filed against him. Azhar Ali has now been arrested in the same case, Shafiqul added.
Azhar’s wife, Rukhsana Parveen, said plain-clothes policemen entered their home, seized her husband’s mobile phone, and took him away for “questioning”, identifying themselves as DB personnel. “They took Azhar to the DB office on Minto Road. They handed over a seizure receipt for the mobile phone,” she added.
Ali has worked for renowned Bangla dailies including Banglabazar and Amader Somoy.
