Facebook accounts of many top leaders of July movement suddenly deactivated

Dhaka University Chhatra Shibir leader claims two accounts have been hacked

The Facebook accounts of several top leaders of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, including Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperative Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, and many activists of the July movement, have been found deactivated.

As of 11pm on Wednesday, some of these accounts, including Asif’s were still showing as inactive.

While his page remains accessible, his personal account under the name "Asif Mahmud" appeared deactivated.

Other deactivated accounts belong to prominent figures such as Convenor of the Anti- discrimination Student Movement Hasnat Abdullah, Chief Organiser of the National Citizens’ Committee Sarjis Alam, Coordinator from Chattogram Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi, President of Shibir's Dhaka University chapter Md Abu Shadik Kayem, and former Dhaka University student and online activist Saiyed Abdullah were found deactivated.

Efforts to contact Sarjis and Hasnat for comments via mobile phone were unsuccessful.

When asked about the issue, Shadik said only two accounts had been hacked, while the others were voluntarily deactivated as a precaution.

He told bdnews24.com, "The Facebook accounts of Saiyed Abdullah and Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi were hacked.

“The rest of us deactivated our accounts as a safety measure."

Shadik concluded, "We will need to take some steps before reactivating the accounts."