DSA case: Mushtaq relieved of interrogation after death in custody

Writer Mushtaq Ahmed was relieved of interrogation by the investigating agency, in a case filed under the Digital Security Act, as he died at the High Security Jail in Kashimpur on Thursday.

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit submitted a three-day remand prayer on Thursday for quizzing Mushtaq and cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore with the court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique.

Md Afchhar Ahmed, a sub-inspector of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit and also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the prayer.

According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the conducting court will exempt Mushtaq from the case after getting a report on his death.

According to the police forwarding report, Ahmed Kabir Kishore and Mushtaq Ahmed circulated "fake information against the state as well as the government through their Facebook accounts to deteriorate law and order". Besides, they "tarnished the reputations of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, drawing his cartoons", the report said.

The accused circulated propaganda about the pandemic through the "I am Bangladeshi" page in collusion with each other to create confusion among the people for deteriorating law and order, the forwarding report said.

Through the "I am Bangladeshi" page, the accused circulated defamatory propaganda on social media about Bangladesh Army, chiefs of various security forces as well as the law enforcing agencies to tarnish their images, it added.

So, they need to be remanded to gather information about the incident, the IO added.

On June 16 last year, another court rejected both the remand and bail petitions of four accused, including Mushtaq Ahmed and Ahmed Kabir Kishore, finding no grounds to place them on remand in the case.