Bdjobs CEO Fahim Mashroor released after detention for 'mocking Hasina' on Facebook

Police have released AKM Fahim Mashroor, the chief executive of Bangladesh’s largest online job site bdjobs.com, hours after detaining him on charges of ridiculing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Facebook.

The police detained him from the Bdjobs office at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka around 1pm on Wednesday, said ADC Nazmul Islam of cyber crime cell of the DMP’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit.

He said around 5pm they released Mashroor after finding no proof in the allegation brought against him. 

“We’ve seized some of his electronic devices. We found no proof in the allegation by examining these devices,” the police officer said.

“The prime minister and the government have been mocked by a Facebook account much like his one,” he said and added they were searching for the real people behind the account.

“The police don’t harass someone without any reason. That’s why we’ve released him (Mashroor) after questioning,” he said. 

Earlier, he had said actions would be taken against the Bdjobs CEO under the ICT Act.

DMP spokesperson Md Masudur Rahman had said Mashroor had been sent to a court.

Md Al Sadik, a former mass education affairs secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Dhaka University unit, started a case against Mashroor at Kafrul Police Station on Apr 22, with charges under Section 57 of the ICT Act.

Sadik alleged Mashroor created anarchy in the country by uploading provocative, false and insulting information on the social media in the name of movement for reforms to quota system in government jobs.

Mashroor launched the job site about 18 years ago. He is also the chief executive of social media Beshto and e-commerce site Ajkerdeal.com.

He is a former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services or BASIS—the country’s biggest platform for software and information technology entrepreneurs.

‘Misunderstanding’

Bdjobs said in a statement its CEO was taken to the DMP commissioner’s office due to a ‘misunderstanding’.

Chief Commercial Officer Prokash Roy Chowdhury said in the statement, “We are delighted to let you know that the issue has been settled properly as no allegation was found and he (Mashroor) has joined work.”

Mashroor did not take calls from bdnews24.com for comments while Sadik could not be reached.

The BCL leader wrote on his Facebook page: “I have started the case as I could not shirk the responsibilities.”