Mymensingh police arrest two over ‘fabricated news’ on Justice Sinha’s resignation

Police in Mymensingh have arrested two staff members of an online portal for publishing ‘fabricated news’ over the resignation of former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

Detective Branch personnel picked up 26-year-old Layes Mandal and 20-year-old Md Sabid from Trishal Upazila in an overnight raid on Tuesday, said Mymensingh Superintendent of Police Syed Nurul Islam.

Layes is the administrator of trishalnews.com which published the news on Nov 16, said the SP while briefing the media at his office on Tuesday evening.

The news headlined, translated in English, reads, “Death threats to relatives leads Sinha to resign”, and it is false, baseless, misleading and fabricated, he said.

“The offence is as grave as sedition. It is an attempt to tarnish the image of Bangladesh armed forces, government and the country," SP Nurul Islam said.

Justice Sinha took leave from Supreme Court duties and left for Australia on Oct 13 following criticism from the Awami League government over the verdict repealing the 16th constitutional amendment.

The president's office said on Nov 11 that they received a letter of resignation from Justice Sinha, who is now abroad. The news appeared on trishal.com four days later.

Layes has told police during primary interrogation that the news was published from his ID.

“The portal has deliberately published baseless and fabricated information about the honourable

president of the country, the former chief justice and his family, army officials, members of the parliament and intelligence agencies.

“It is a conspiracy against the government and the state,” the SP added.

Preparations were on to prosecute the two under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology or ICT Act, he added.