Police to press charges against actress Nawshaba for social media rumours

Police will press charges against actress Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed in a case filed under the ICT Act for spreading rumours on social media during the students’ protest for safer roads.

“Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court is likely to send the case documents to the Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal,” Nawshaba’s lawyer AH Imrul Kawser told bdnews24.com.

On May 12, Investigation Officer and police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit Inspector Shawkat Ali Sarkar submitted the chargesheet to the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

“Quazi Nawshaba has committed a crime under Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 by intentionally revealing and disseminating false and defaming information to tarnish the image of the country, deteriorate the law and order in the country and hurt the people’s sentiment,” police said.

Nawshaba was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion in a case filed under the ICT Act on Aug 4, 2018.

During last year’s protest for safer roads started by school children, Nawshaba went live on Facebook. In the video, she claimed two students have been killed in a clash that broke out at Dhaka’s Zigatola.

She said another student’s eyeballs have been removed by attackers. Her claims, after going viral among users of social media, were later debunked as false rumours.

Interrogated in two phases, the actress was grilled on remand for a total of six days. She was also treated at a hospital when she fell ill.

Nawshaba was later released on bail.