Police have sought to keep journalist Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury in jail in a murder case over the killing of madrasa student Arif during the July uprising in the capital’s Jatrabari area.
However, investigators have not sought his remand at this stage.
Sub-Inspector Mohammad Amir Hossain, the investigation officer of the case and a member of Jatrabari Police Station, filed the petition on Thursday.
SI Mohin Uddin of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Prosecution Division said the petition would be placed before the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court for a hearing.
“We are not seeking remand for Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury at this stage. We have applied to keep him in jail,” the investigation officer said.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, former information adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and chairman of private television channel DBC News, was picked up by police from the channel’s office in Mohakhali around noon on Wednesday.
The channel’s Chief Crime Reporter, Rajib Ghosh, was also taken into police custody.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury is also the editor and publisher of the Daily Observer.
Following the incident, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Public Relations) Aktar Hossain said an “undesirable situation” had developed at the DBC News office over the broadcast of a news report.
He said Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and Rajib Ghosh had been taken into the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of police but did not elaborate on the circumstances.
Later that night, police showed Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury arrested in the Jatrabari murder case.
Meanwhile, DMP Detective Branch chief Shafiqul Islam said DB released Rajib Ghosh, special correspondent of DBC News, and handed him over to his family around 2am on Thursday after obtaining a bond from him.
According to the case statement, a gunfight broke out between police and leaders and activists of the Awami League on Boubazar Road in the Kutubkhali area of Jatrabari on the afternoon of 19 July 2024, during the July uprising.
Arif, a first-year Alim student at Lord Hardinge Fazil Madrasa, was shot in the eye during the incident. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Following the incident, his father, Yusuf, filed a murder case with Jatrabari Police Station on 25 August 2024, against 233 people, including Sheikh Hasina.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury was listed as the 53rd accused in the case.
