‘Sniper’ comment on PM’s bus: Accused gives confessional statement

The youth arrested over a Facebook comment referring to a ‘sniper’ in connection with a photograph of a bus carrying Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has given a confessional statement before a Dhaka court.

The accused, Abu Bokor Siddique, 22, was produced before the court today (1 November) after a seven-day remand.

Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Yasin Paik of the Detective Branch’s Cyber and Special Crime Division sought permission to record his statement after Siddique voluntarily agreed to make a confessional statement.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana recorded the statement and subsequently ordered that he be sent to jail; Sub Inspector of prosecution division Wazed Ali confirmed.

However, the contents of the statement were not immediately known.

The Special Response Battalion (SRB) detained Abu Bokor Siddique from his residence in Paba upazila of Rajshahi around midnight on 21 October.

He was subsequently shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and sent to jail on 23 October.

According to the case complaint, three photographs of a bus carrying Prime Minister Tarique Rahman were posted in the Facebook group ‘The Beauty of Rajshahi’ on 21 October.

The accompanying caption questioned why a Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) bus was being used for the prime minister in Rajshahi instead of a red-and-green bulletproof bus.

In the comment section, a Facebook account named ‘MD Abu Bokor Siddique’ allegedly wrote: “What a great opportunity it was, if only there had been a sniper.”

Using information technology, police identified the user of the Facebook account and arrested Abu Bokor Siddique in Rajshahi.

His father, Md Aynal Haque, was also detained during the operation but was later released after the initial investigation found no evidence of his involvement, police said.

Police seized Abu Bokor Siddique’s mobile phone following his arrest.

According to the investigation petition, an examination of the phone revealed information about allegedly objectionable comments posted on various Facebook pages and groups.

SI Md Manik Hossain of the DB’s Cyber and Special Crime (North) Division filed the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Ramna Police Station in Dhaka.