Ex-secy Abu Alam Shahid Khan arrested

A Dhaka court yesterday sent former secretary Abu Alam Md Shahid Khan to jail in an anti-terrorism case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman passed the order after police produced him before the court, said a sub-inspector working in the court.

According to defence lawyer Obydul Islam, detectives arrested the former secretary in the Eskaton area early yesterday, even though his name was not included in the FIR.

Earlier, 16 people, including former minister and expelled Awami League leader Abdul Latif Siddique, Dhaka University law professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, journalist Monjurul Alam Panna, and freedom fighter Golam Mostafa, were arrested in the case.

On August 29, police filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station against the arrestees, accusing them of inciting terrorism through a speech delivered under the banner of a platform called Mancho 71.

A Dhaka court sent them to prison the same day.

Latif Siddique, Hafizur, Panna, Mostafa, Zakir Hossain, Tawsiful Bari Khan, Amir Hossain Sumon, Shafiqul Islam Delwar, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) leader Abdullahil Kayum were denied bail by separate Dhaka courts between August 31 and September 4.

The case statement said Latif Siddique conspired to destabilise the country to overthrow the interim government.

For his speech, people present there surrounded Latif Siddique and others and chanted slogans calling them "Awami fascists", the case statement said. The case also accuses 70 to 80 unidentified individuals.