Badrunnessa College teacher Ruma remanded for two days over ‘communal violence disinformation’

A court has granted police two days to interrogate Ruma Sarker, a teacher of Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls’ College, over spreading a ‘fake’ video on social media and stirring communal tensions.

Police had brought Sarker to court to petition for a seven-day remand over a case filed under the Digital Security Act at Ramna Police Station. 

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Masud-Ur-Rahman granted a two-day remand on Thursday following the hearing.

Ruma Sarker, an assistant professor of the college, shared old video footage of the May 16 murder of Shahin Uddin, a businessman of Dhaka’s Pallabi, claiming it was a video of the recent killing of Noakhali’s Jatan Kumar Saha.

Jatan, a Durga Puja organiser, was beaten to death by religious fanatics last Friday amid a spate of attacks on Hindu homes, businesses and places of worship, leaders of the Hindu community said. Noakhali police said Jatan died of a “heart attack”.

RAB had detained Sarker at her home in Dhaka’s Bailey Road on Wednesday.

She was then taken to RAB headquarters for questioning. Afterwards RAB filed a case against her.