Published : 11 Oct 2026, 11:36 AM
Updated : 11 Oct 2026, 11:36 AM
Police have filed a case against four people, including ANM Ayash, member secretary of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum, who were detained over an attempt to erase a portrait of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore painted on a wall outside Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.
The four were formally arrested in the case filed with Shahbagh Police Station on Saturday night, said Sheikh Zahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of police for the Ramna Division.
Besides Ayash, the others arrested are Sakibul Hasan, 19, Sujan Mia, 18, and Marzia Khandaker Rimi, 27.
Zahidul said the case accuses them of attempting to damage and deface the portrait, making provocative statements, engaging in anti-state activities and attempting to undermine religious harmony.
"They will be produced in court on Sunday," he said.
Police said the case, filed by police with Shahbagh Police Station carries charges of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups, and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
The case follows an incident on Saturday afternoon, when police intervened as a group of young people tried to erase Tagore's portrait from the wall outside Shilpakala Academy.
An argument followed, after which officers detained four people, including Ayas, and took them to the police station.
"They came to erase the graffiti, but police stopped them," Zahidul said on Saturday.
At the scene, a woman was seen applying ink to Tagore's portrait before a police officer intervened.
The woman said the group had come to protest against "Indian aggression". The protesters, led by Ayas, also chanted slogans after police intervened.
Dhaka South City Corporation cleared encroachments from a footpath in Segunbagicha on Oct 5.
Portraits of 10 prominent figures in art, literature and culture were subsequently painted on a wall along the footpath. They included Zainul Abedin, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
On Friday, a Facebook page called "July Revolutionary Alliance" questioned the decision to depict these cultural figures.
Describing Satyajit Ray and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar as "cultural figures of West Bengal", the page questioned why their portraits had been painted there.
On Saturday, a group led by Ayash of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum went to the site to erase the portraits.
