A local leader of Jubo League in Dhaka files a case against Samsuzzaman Shams
Published : 29 Mar 2023, 10:37 PM
Prothom Alo reporter Samsuzzaman Shams, who was detained by people posing as policemen, has been charged under the Digital Security Act for an Independence Day report that kicked up a storm.
Md Golam Kibria, general secretary of Jubo League’s ward-11 unit under Dhaka Metropolitan North, started a case against him at Tejgaon Police Station around 2:15am on Wednesday, hours before Shams’s detention.
Golam Kibria, known as SM Kibria alias Pias in his organisation, claimed his bringing charges had nothing to do with his affiliation with the ruling Awami League.
Speaking to http://bdnews24.com, he said, “I filed the case having been agitated personally.”
Azimul Haque, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Tejgaon Division, said Shams is the only person named in the case that accused several other unidentified people.
“We haven’t got the accused yet. The case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department.”
Kibria alleged in the case that Shams and the other accused “tried to or supported crimes by publishing and circulating false and defamatory information that may cause deterioration of law and order”.
“What will we do with independence if there’s no food to fill our stomachs?” a person was quoted as saying on the Mar 26 online version of Prothom Alo. He indicated that people sweat over how to secure rice, meat and fish every day..
The report stirred controversy, especially on social media. Leaders of the ruling party criticised it too. Later, Prothom Alo edited the report and changed the headlines. They also removed the social media post.
Shams, who wrote the report, was whisked away from his home in Savar on Wednesday by people who identified themselves as members of the police’s CID.
The CID has denied the detention, while another journalist who witnessed the incident, Shams's landlord, and the chief security officer of Jahangirnagar University, which is adjacent to Shams’ house, said the people who took Shams away claimed to be from the CID.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan did not confirm whether Shams was arrested, but said the police “have the authority to take action if someone demanded justice”.
“First of all, the quote used by the reporter was incorrect. You [journalists] have said so yourself. You broadcast on Ekattor TV that the news was baseless, fabricated, and motivated.”