Police have arrested Ahsan Habib Bhuiyan, assistant secretary of a central sub-committee of the Awami League.
He was arrested from a house in Gulshan-2 around 6am on Saturday.
Subsequently, he was produced in court in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Police recently obtained evidence that Ahsan Habib was involved in assisting fugitive Awami League leaders and engaging in anti-government activities.
Gulshan Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Hafizur Rahman said, “We have produced Ahsan Habib in court after his arrest. A remand application will be filed in court tomorrow for his interrogation.”
Earlier, on the same day, Gulshan Police went to his house late at night to arrest Ahsan Habib. At that time, Ahsan Habib came live on Facebook with the caption that ‘fake police’ had come to his house.
Later, his close relatives and locals came and confirmed that the individuals in police uniforms were indeed police from Gulshan Police Station, not fake police. Thereafter, around 6am, Awami League leader Ahsan Habib was arrested and taken to Gulshan Police Station. Later, a case was filed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and he was produced in court.
It has been learned that Ahsan Habib’s father, MA Sattar Bhuiyan, was the President of Dhanmondi Thana Awami League. He contested the 1996 7th National Parliamentary election from the Noakhali-2 constituency with the Awami League’s nomination and the boat symbol. He lost to BNP candidate Barkat Ullah Bulu by 30,320 votes. MA Sattar had served as the Acting Mayor of Dhaka. He passed away on May 9, 2007.
The arrested Ahsan Habib claims to be a lawyer. He also identifies himself as the founder of the ‘Poriborton Kori Foundation’. He has photos with various leaders, including Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. Simultaneously, he used to participate in various television talk shows and praise the Awami League.
Police state that Ahsan Habib changed his behaviour after July 17 of last year. He started posting against the then government based on the assumption that the Awami League was going to fall. It has also been learned that this Awami League leader has been married four times and was preparing for another marriage.
Sources indicate that after the fall of the government on August 5, former Juba League chairman Omar Faruq Chowdhury was in hiding at Ahsan Habib’s house. Later, he tactfully moved away from there.
Meanwhile, several individuals close to Ahsan Habib have claimed that during the July-August movement last year, he was actively involved on social media in various ways against the Awami League government.
Ahsan Habib Bhuiyan’s lawyer, Sarwar Hossain, alleged, “Despite repeatedly going to the police station, I was not allowed to meet with him. They did not even inform [me] of the reason for the arrest. Yet, he has this right under the Constitution or the CrPC.”
