Pakistan withdraws ‘terror-link’ tainted diplomat from Bangladesh

Pakistan has recalled its Second Secretary (Political) at the High Commission in Dhaka after allegations of her ties to terrorism in Bangladesh surfaced.

Md Shahidul Islam, an immigration officer at Shahjalal International Airport, told bdnews24.com that Fareena Arshad left Dhaka in a Pakistan International Airlines flight at 1:35pm on Wednesday.

Earlier in January this year, Mazhar Khan, another Pakistani official working in the Dhaka mission, had been expelled after Bangladesh intelligence accused him of funding Islamist radicals and peddling fake currency.

Detective Branch of police recently claimed to have ‘found evidence of Fareena Arshad’s terror links’ based on information revealed during the interrogation of several arrested members of Jama’atul Majahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

One JMB member, Idris Sheikh, also mentioned the links in a confessional statement at a Dhaka court, they said.

Fareena Arshad

Sheikh, who was once involved in politics in Pakistan, in the statement said he was in touch with the female diplomat and had received Tk 30,000 from her.

bdnews24.com ran a report on the police’s findings on Dec 14. The Pakistan High Commission did not respond when bdnews24.com contacted it for comments before publishing the report.

The mission issued a rejoinder two days later, claiming the report was ‘baseless’.

It said the claims made by police were ‘imaginary’.

“It has been learnt that the ‘story’ was leaked to the press by the Detective Branch of police, and a section of the press published the same, without any verification worth the name,” the mission added.

Responding to the mission’s protest, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Muntasirul Islam on the same day told bdnews24.com: “DMP’s Detective Branch have not provided the media with any information naming any specific country or any diplomat or official stationed in Bangladesh.”