RAB arrests actress Nawshaba on charges of spreading rumours to incite violence

The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested actress and model Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed on charges of spreading rumours on Facebook about “attacks on student protesters”.

Nawshaba was arrested in Dhaka’s Uttara around 10:30pm on Saturday, RAB spokesman Mufti Mahmud Khan told bdnews24.com.

She was seen on Facebook urging people to “save the students from attacks” and making false claims that two students were killed.

In her 1.37-minute live broadcast on Facebook, Nawshaba also falsely claimed that the attackers gouged out a student’s eyes. 

She urged her Facebook friends and followers to “step in and save the children from unsafe conditions”. 

Her comments are believed to have played a role in the street battle that followed between safe-road campaigners and Awami League activists in Dhaka’s Jigatala on Saturday afternoon. 

Before her arrest, bdnews24.com contacted Nawshaba to verify her claims and she said she had not seen anything with her “own eyes”.

With the street protests going violent for the first time since Jul 29, the Jigatala neighbourhood turned into a battleground.

A new front opened after a group of men wearing motorcycle helmets—some of them armed—arrived on the scene and clashed with the students. The battle lasted several hours.

The Jigatala episode opened a new phase in the otherwise peaceful student campaign and drew quick reactions from the Awami League. The ruling party’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader asserted that a political foul play found its way into the non-political protests.