34 students land in jail over ‘terrorism’ charges

A Sunamganj court has sent 34 students to jail on charges of engaging in terrorist activities in disguise of visitors at Tanguar Haor.

Sunamganj Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Farhan Sadiq on Monday evening passed the order, after police produced them in court following their arrest a day earlier.

Confirming the information, Sunamganj Additional Superintendent of Police Abu Saeed revealed that among the arrested individuals, 24 were students of Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET).

The arrests were made by the Tahirpur police station on Sunday afternoon, but the police chose to keep the matter undisclosed until Monday.

On Monday afternoon, a sub-inspector from the Tahirpur Police Station filed a case against the students under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which brought the issue to public attention.

A police source has claimed that the detained students are affiliated with the politics of the Islami Chhatra Shibir.

According to the police, these students had gathered in the Howar area with the intent of holding secret meetings and conspiring against the government. Their alleged objectives included causing public unrest and harm to people's lives.

"Police were tipped off that some students have gathered at Howar to engage in terrorist activities and anti-government plotting. Based on this intelligence, they were detained and interrogated on Sunday, and the subsequent case was filed against them on Monday," said ASP Abu Saeed.

"Police proceeded with legal action, leading to their arrests, after verifying the allegations against them," he told The Business Standard.

The 24 BUET students who were held are Afif Anwar, Bakhtiar Nafis, Md Saikh, Ismail Ibn Azad, Sabbir Ahmed, Tajimur Rafi, Md Saad Adnan, Md. Shamim Al Razi, Md Abdullah Al Mukit, Md Zaim Sarkar, Haicham bin Mahbub, Mahmudur Hasan, Khalid Ammar, Md. Fahadul Islam, Tanvir Arafat, ATM Abrar Muhtadi, Md Faisal Habib, Anwarullah Siddiqui, Ali Ammar Mouaz, Md Rashed Raihan, Saqib Shahriar, Faiz Us Swaib, Abdur Rafi, and Main Uddin.

The remaining ten individuals who were arrested are Abdul Bari, Md Baki Billah, Mahadi Hasan, TM Tanvir Hossain, Ashraf Ali, Md Mahmud Hasan, Md Ehsanul Haque, Rayan Ahmed, Tanimul Islam, and Md. Abdullah Mia.

According to local sources, the 34 students boarded a boat from the wharf of Tahirpur Upazila and departed to visit Tanguar Haor at 7am on Sunday. However, their boat was intercepted by two police speed boats around noon as they were en route to the Takkerghat tourist area through the Patlai River. Subsequently, the boat's drivers Ahadul Miah, Muhaddis Miah, and all 34 students were arrested and taken to the police station.