Farabi in DB custody

Farabi Shafiur Rahman, who threatened an Imam with death in a Facebook posting, has been handed over to the detectives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for questioning.

Farabi threatened the Imam who had administered funeral prayers for Ahmed Rajib Haider, the architect-blogger who had emerged as a leading figure of the Shahbagh protests before he was murdered by suspected zealots.

Hathazari police said they handed him over to the Detective Branch of Police early on Monday morning.

Farabi was arrested at the second entrance area of the Chittagong University at around 8pm on Sunday. The honours final-year student of physics from Brahmanbaria lived in a mess close to his place of arrest.

Police claims to have intelligence that Farabi was involved with the Islamic radical group, Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Hathazari Police Station OC AKM Liakat Ali told bdnews24.com that Farabi was arrested on charges of issuing death threat in Facebook to the Imam who administered namaj-e-janaza of Rajib.

Later he was delivered to the DB police, he added.

Farabi’s Facebook status posted on Jan 15 read, “The Imam who will administer the Janaza of Thaba Baba (Facebook and blogging name used by Rajib) will be killed too. The namaz-e-janaza is only for Muslims. It cannot be held for a ‘nastik’ (atheist) or ‘murtad’ (apostate) who used indecent words against Allah and his Rasul throughout his life.”

Rajib was killed the day before this Facebook posting. His body was found on a street near his Pallabi residence in the capital.