Habiganj BNP leader in custody after going viral for 'insulting' police officer

He says the clip was a distorted version of a conversation where he was scolding his own staff, not the local police chief

Police have detained a BNP leader in Habiganj after an audio clip surfaced where he was reportedly heard using abusive language toward a police officer.

Ferdous Chowdhury Tushar, president of the Bahubal Upazila unit of the BNP, was picked up from his residence around 12pm on Sunday, confirmed Habiganj District Detective Police chief Shamim Iqbal.

The move follows the viral spread of an audio recording on Saturday, which allegedly captures Tushar hurling insults at Bahubal Police chief Saiful Islam over the phone.

The clip sparked widespread criticism across social media, although its authenticity has not been verified.

Shortly before his detention, Tushar addressed journalists at 11:30am, denying the allegations.

He claimed the audio was a manipulated version of a private conversation.

"I haven’t even called the officer once in the last two months," Tushar said.

"I was scolding my manager, and someone edited that clip and circulated it on Facebook to make it look like I was targeting police," he added.