A court has ordered Inayat Karim Chowdhury (55), a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, who was arrested while suspiciously loitering in a car in the Minister’s area on Minto Road in the capital, to be sent to jail.
On Saturday, the investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md Azizul Hakim of Ramna Model Police Station, presented the accused in court and applied for a seven-day remand. Later, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dilruba Afroz Tithi ordered the accused to be sent to jail and set 15 September for the remand hearing.
According to the General Diary entry filed at Ramna Police Station against the accused, on Saturday at around 10:30am, the accused, Inayat Karim Chowdhury, was seen moving suspiciously in a Prado vehicle in the Minister’s area on Minto Road in the capital.
His vehicle was stopped at that time, and when questioned, he was unable to provide satisfactory answers, leading to him being taken into police custody. Two iPhones found in his possession were seized. Preliminary analysis of his phones has revealed many important pieces of information related to conspiracies against the current government.
During interrogation, he stated that he is an American citizen of Bangladeshi descent. He landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on 6 September at 9:50am via Qatar Airways from New York. He further disclosed during interrogation that he is a contract agent for the intelligence agency of a specific country.
He stated that the current interim government of Bangladesh is in a very fragile state and that a distance has developed between them and the army. He mentioned that he came to Bangladesh to work towards changing the current government and forming a new national government or caretaker government.
He stayed at the Sonargaon Hotel on the 6 and 7 September. Subsequently, he stayed at his current address in Gulshan. He disclosed that he has already held secret meetings with several high-level government officials and policymakers, influential leaders of various political parties, and members of the business community. He also stated that the American government is disappointed with the current interim government.
The accused claimed that on the upcoming 21 October, the Supreme Court will overturn the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system. He said that if the caretaker government system is reinstated then, a new national government or caretaker government supported by the army will be formed.
He stated that the US will determine who will participate in this new government and who will be the head of government. He mentioned that he collected information on the current stance of senior government and private authorities, as well as various political party leaders, in light of Bangladesh’s current context, and passed it on to the intelligence agency controlling him.
The case states that the accused, Inayat Karim Chowdhury, has come to Bangladesh as an agent of a foreign intelligence agency with the aim of ousting the current legitimate interim government of Bangladesh and is engaged in attempts to undermine public security and sovereignty, which is a punishable offense.
