Ex-Cantonment OC placed on remand over leaked audio clip on Hasina’s return

A Dhaka court on Thursday granted a five-day-remand for questioning Md Rakibul Hasan, former officer-in-charge (OC) at Cantonment Police Station, on sedition charges.

The sedition lawsuit has been filed over a viral audio record where he purportedly speaks about ousted dictator and fugitive death-row-convict Sheikh Hasina’s return to the country, and alleges corruption in the OC posting process.

Earlier on Thursday, Rakibul was arrested from the Rajarbagh Police Lines area. Afterwards, police sought a seven-day remand to question him, said the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in a press release.

On 17 September, the DMP commissioner had withdrawn him from the post of officer-in-charge and attached him to the Police Headquarters over the leaked audio. Later, he was also questioned by the Detective Branch (DB) over the video.

In the audio, a voice resembling that of Md Rakibul claims that the police force is too weak to arrest Sheikh Hasina, leader of the banned Awami League, if she returns to the country from her self-exile in India in December, and thwart a countrywide movement by the party in the wake of her return.

Owing to the weak police morale, Hasina should have returned this very month (September), Rakibul's voice is heard saying in the video.

He also alleged that the top-tier police officers are leaning towards the BNP government, and the officers also taking bribes for posting in-charges at police stations in areas including the capital.

However, other service members on the ground were not aligning with the government, the voice representing Rakibul claimed in the audio.