CTTC wants Kajol arrested under DSA

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has filed a petition with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka seeking its permission to show photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol arrested in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

Motlubur Rahman, inspector at CTTC and also the investigation officer in the case, submitted the application on Monday.

In response, Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah asked the jail authorities in Jashore to produce Kajol before it on June 1 when the court would decide on the appeal.

The case in question was filed by Saifuzzaman Shikhor, a ruling party lawmaker from Magura-1, with Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Police Station on March 9.

Two more cases under the same act were subsequently filed on March 10 and March 11 with Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar police stations respectively.

Fifty-three days into his disappearance, Kajol was "discovered" by Border Guard Bangladesh in Benapole on Sunday. But he was arrested -- initially on charges of trespassing, and later in the evening under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) -- and sent to Jashore Central Jail.

Section 54 of the CrPC stipulates that a person can be arrested without a warrant if there is "credible information" of his involvement with a "cognisable offence".

Jashore Kotwali Police Station's Officer-in-charge Moniruzzaman told this correspondent, "He has been arrested under section 54 because he is accused in three cases filed under the digital security act."

Monorom Polok, son of Kajol, said, "We were unable to post bail because he was arrested under section 54 in the evening when the Jashore court was closed."

Article 19,an international human rights organisation which defends and promotes freedom of expression,circulated a statement yesterday demanding the release of Kajol.

"While the government is releasing prisoners to prevent the spread of coronavirus in prisons, there is no rationale for sending Kajol to jail now as he is not accused in any heinous crime like murder, rape, terrorism, militancy, or treason," said Faruq Faisel, Article 19 regional director for Bangladesh and South Asia.

"The three lawsuits filed against him are identical and all of them are filed under the controversial Digital Security Act only for expressing his views on Facebook.

"At least in one of the cases, the other accused have been released on bail. So logically the question arises as to why the authorities are so enthusiastic to put Kajol behind the bars,'' Faruq said.

"After Kajol went missing, his family filed a case of kidnapping. Therefore, where Kajol had been for more than two months, where he was taken, by whom and why, how he came to the Benapole border - these questions must be clearly answered immediately," he further said.

If anyone found involved in Kajol's disappearance, action must be taken against them, he added.