Senior journalist Shaukat Mahmood, a former president of the National Press Club, was sent to jail on Friday after completing a five-day remand in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam passed the order after the investigating officer of the case, Inspector Akhtar Morshed of the Ramna Zonal Team of the Detective Branch (DB) Police, produced Mahmud before the court and sought an order to keep him in judicial custody.
The information was confirmed by prosecution sub-inspector Jinnat Ali.
Shaukat Mahmood, secretary general of Janata Party Bangladesh, was arrested on 6 December in connection with a case involving allegations of conspiracy to overthrow the government. The case also involves Enayet Karim Chowdhury, a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, who was arrested earlier.
Police initially sought a 10-day remand for Shaukat Mahmood, but the hearing was deferred due to the absence of original case documents. On 11 December, the court granted a five-day remand.
According to the case statement, Enayet Karim Chowdhury moved to the United States in 1988 and obtained US citizenship in 2004. The case alleges that he returned to Bangladesh on 6 September from New York as an agent of a foreign intelligence agency with the intent to overthrow the country’s interim government.
The case further alleges that on 13 September, Enayet Karim was found moving suspiciously in a Prado vehicle in Minto Road area. Police detained him after he failed to provide satisfactory explanations during questioning and seized two iPhones from his possession.
A case was subsequently filed with the Ramna Model Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Several others, including Kazi Md Mamunur Rashid, secretary general of the Raushan-led faction of the Jatiya Party, were later arrested in connection with the case.
