Youth on 7-day remand over ‘lack of sniper’ comment on FB post concerning PM's tour

A Dhaka court on Sunday placed Md Abu Bakar Siddiq, 22, on a seven-day remand over a Facebook comment, which read “only a lack of a sniper,” on a post featuring a bus carrying Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque passed the order for remand after a hearing, said State Prosecutor Shamsuddoha Sumon.

Earlier, the investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md Yasin Paik of the DB Cyber and Special Crime Division, sought a seven-day remand for the accused.

The remand petition said the accused needed to be interrogated to identify other suspects, uncover the motive behind the incident and investigate whether any organised group or mastermind was involved.

State lawyer Shamsuddoha Sumon argued in favour of the remand petition, while no defence lawyer appeared for the accused.

The court also asked the accused why he had made the comment. In reply, he said he had made it merely as a joke and admitted that it was a mistake. After the hearing, the court granted a seven-day remand.

Earlier, on 23 October, a Dhaka court sent the accused to jail in the case following his arrest.

According to the case documents, three photographs of a bus carrying the prime minister were posted on a Facebook group named “The Beauty of Rajshahi” on 21 October.

The caption questioned why a bus belonging to Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) had been used to transport the prime minister in Rajshahi instead of a red-and-green bulletproof bus.

A Facebook profile named “MD Abu Bokor Siddique” commented on the post, saying, “What a great opportunity it was! There was only a lack of a sniper”.

Police later identified the user of the account and arrested Abu Bokor in the Gholharia Dakshinpara area under Paba Police Station in Rajshahi.

Sub-inspector Md Manik Hossain of the Detective Branch’s Cyber and Special Crime (North) Division filed a case over the matter with Ramna Police Station in Dhaka under the Anti-Terrorism Act.