Home
+
Published : 11 Dec 2025, 04:37 PM
Shaukat Mahmood, a former Jatiya Press Club president and Janata Party Bangladesh general secretary, has denied allegations levelled against him for trying to “topple the interim government through conspiracies”.
He made the comment during his remand hearing at a Dhaka court on Thursday.
“We wanted the current government. After coming to power, the government withdrew 60 cases I had been accused in. Why should I plan to topple this government? This allegation is unbelievable,” Shaukat told the court.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Fahmina Khandakar Anna granted police five days to interrogate Shaukat in their custody.
The prosecution had objected to Shaukat speaking to the court. The judge allowed the journalist union leader to speak anyway.
“I have been in journalism for 35 years. I have been elected a general secretary to the press club six times and a president five times. I have been an uncompromising voice against the 15-year autocracy of the past government,” Shaukat told the court.
“I have been accused in 70 cases during that time. I have been accused in as many cases as Khaleda Zia has been,” he told the court.
Shaukat was arrested on Sunday in connection with a case filed against Bangladeshi-origin US citizen Enayet Karim Chowdhury over his involvement in a “conspiracy to topple” the interim government.
About Enayet, Shaukat said: “I was never involved in any criminal activities.”
He demanded the government check their phone records, claiming no such records were found on her phone despite its inspection lasting days.
Defending his expulsion from the BNP, he said it arose from a difference of opinion.
Highlighting his physical condition, he said he underwent six bypass surgeries. He said he was even denied admission to the prison hospital.
“The judiciary is independent now. I request you to consider my situation. I will accept any orders given by you,” said Shaukat.
In the remand plea, Inspector Akhtar Morshed said Shaukat and several unnamed suspects, working with Enayet, tried to stir fear among the public and threaten the country’s security, unity and sovereignty.
He also claimed they held secret meetings with political leaders, high-ranking officials, and businesspeople to topple the interim government.
The plea also said Shaukat, along with others, had been trying to destabilise Bangladesh’s political, economic and social situation on behalf of a “powerful foreign nation”. Police want to question him to find out which groups he “conspired with”.
The prosecution argued Shaukat was part of a conspiracy against the interim government involving intelligence agencies from more than one foreign country, including India’s RAW.
Shaukat was trying to assist the past “fascist” to return to power, the prosecution said.
The defence lawyer had demanded bail for Shaukat, which was rejected by the court.
According to the case statement, Enayet moved to the United States in 1988 and became a US citizen in 2004. He allegedly came to Bangladesh on Sept 6 as an agent of a foreign intelligence agency to help overthrow the interim government.
The case says that around 10:30am on Sept 13, he was seen “moving suspiciously” in a Toyota Prado SUV on the capital’s Minto Road. Police stopped him after becoming suspicious. When asked why he was there, he could not give an answer. Police then detained him and seized two iPhones from his possession.
An Anti-Terrorism case was then filed over the incident at Ramna Model Police Station. Kazi Md Mamunur Rashid, secretary general of the Raushon Ershad wing of the Jatiya Party, and several others have since been arrested in connection with the case.
Shaukat was named secretary general of the newly formed Janata Party Bangladesh on Apr 25. Veteran film actor and road safety campaigner Ilias Kanchan is the party’s chairman.
He had previously served as a vice-chairman of the BNP but was expelled by the party in March 2023 for breaching party discipline.
