Detained Saudi man released
The Saudi national, detained with three others from an Awami League leader's house during a “secret meeting” in Teknaf, was released from the BGB Teknaf office and handed over to an official of the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Dhaka on Sunday night.
Joint forces on Saturday afternoon detained Saudi national Ahmad Al Saleh Al Badi; Moulvi Ibrahim, a Bangladeshi from Tangail who accompanied Ahmad; Hafiz Salaul Islam, a former military commander of Myanmar's separatist outfit Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO); and Syed Karim, Baharchhara Union AL vice-president.
Yesterday, BGB Habildar Babul Miah filed a case with Teknaf Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act against 11 people, including the three detainees and eight absconding persons. The name of Saudi national Saleh was not on the list of accused.
According to the case statement, the accused were holding a secret meeting and plotting subversive activities against the state to hamper peace, public security and integrity of the country.
Initially, police had suspected that they were holding the meeting at Syed Karim's house in Shamlapur village for distributing funds among residents of an unregistered Rohingya shelter centre in Teknaf without approval from the local administration.
Talking to this newspaper yesterday, Abdul Mazid, officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, said they took surety bond from the Saudi official before releasing Saleh.
Contacted, a senior official at the foreign ministry confirmed that the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka had taken Saleh in its custody.
The official said the Saudi government had taken the matter “very seriously”, and already conveyed to Bangladesh that once the Saudi national is brought back home, he would be interrogated there by its law enforcement agencies.
Both the governments are considering the issue as “very serious and a special case”.
“We have very warm relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi government wished to take him back, the government will consider allowing him to leave on condition that he would be tried there.”
Meanwhile, the Cox's Bazar Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court placed the three detainees on seven days' remand after police produced them before it, said Ranjit Palit, inspector of Cox's Bazar Court Police.
The other eight absconding accused are Baharchhara Union AL President and UP Chairman Aziz Uddin, his brother and Teknaf Upazila Vice Chairman Maulana Rafiq Uddin, Master Md Ayub, Salamat Ullah, Abdur Rahman, Abu Bakar, Dr Mohammad Yunus and Dr Nurul Amin.
Abdul Mazid, OC of Teknaf Police Station, said Md Kabir Hossain, sub-inspector of Teknaf Police Station, was made investigation officer of the case.
The case statement didn't make any mention of Saudi citizen Saleh or local lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi, who came under the spotlight over his alleged presence at the “secret meeting”.
Quoting a BGB official, local media had reported that Bodi was present at the meeting.
However, Bodi later told this newspaper that he went there to request the law enforcers and the executive magistrate to take the detainees to the police station.
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