Anti-terrorism act case against CU student: Statement of proctor and FIR don’t match

The administration of Chittagong University (CU) has come under fire for handing over a law department student to police after keeping him detained for eight hours.

The administration also filed a case against him under the anti-terrorism act.

The university administration handed him over to police on Wednesday night (August 24).

However, the statement of the university administration was found to be inconsistent with the FIR of the case.

Campus sources and eyewitnesses said that the arrestee Jobayer Hossain (23) along with some other students, was holding a human chain on Wednesday afternoon to protest against the attack on a student of the university at zero point of the campus by a local CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver. They also demanded circular bus services on the campus.

Later, several assistant proctors went to the venue of protest and took the agitating students to the proctor's office for discussion.

The others came out of the proctor's office soon. However, Jobayer, the third-year student of law department, was kept there for about eight hours and handed over to police that night.

Jobayer is also a member or Student Rights Council's CU unit, according to sources.

Sheikh Abdur Razzaque, head of the university's security department, filed the case with Hathazari Model Police Station under the anti-terrorism act on Wednesday night. However, the information provided in the FIR does not match the statement by university Proctor Rabiul Islam Bhuiyan.

"The arrestee is a Shibir activist and we have recovered from his diary a handwritten plan to sabotage the shuttle train and kidnap the train driver. There were also several defamatory pictures of The Father of the Nation and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from his mobile," the proctor said.

On the other hand, complainant Sheikh Abdur Razzaque in the FIR stated that Jobayer is an active member of the "Deen Islam" group and he had gathered other students at Zero Point on the campus on the day of the for carrying out conspiracy against the state. 

When asked about the case statement, CU proctor said, "I have not seen the details of the case. However, it was read out to me before submission. The police have prepared a case statement. However, from Jobayer's suspicious behavior, we are sure that he is involved in conspiracy against the state."

The plaintiff of the case said, "I did not see the statement of the case but I was present during his interrogation. The police wrote the statement, I have only signed. I only performed my official duties. Now the police will investigate the case."

He refused to speak to this correspondent further.

When contacted, Hathazari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Ruhul Amin declined to comment on the matter.

Nasrin Akhter, coordinator and vice-president of the central Chhatra Adhikar Parishad unit, said that "If Jubayer is a Shibir activist, the university has no right to hand him over to the police without any criminal charges."

"The right to do politics is constitutional. The CU administration violated the constitution by keeping him in custody for eight hours without informing his family and friends and later handing him over to the police with false information," she added.