A Dhaka court has granted a four-day police remand for the interrogation of Indian national Rabiul Islam, who was arrested on suspicion of being an agent of the Indian intelligence agency RAW and for alleged involvement in recent acts of sabotage across Bangladesh, including the capital.
Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana issued this order on Friday following a petition by the Dhaka Detective Branch (DB) of the police. Mostafa Kamal, Sub-Inspector of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Prosecution Division, confirmed the granting of the remand to 24 News.
Dhaka DB stated that Rabiul Islam was detained around 3:00 AM on Tuesday from the Sector 11 area of Uttara in the capital. He was subsequently formally arrested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The remand petition filed by the Dhaka DB states that Rabiul Islam has been in Bangladesh since September 14. His movements and activities appeared suspicious to the police. During questioning, he claimed to be an Indian national and produced an Indian passport, driving license, and national identity card to substantiate his claim.
However, police report that upon verification, the dates of birth listed on his driving license and national identity card did not match the date of birth recorded in his passport. The remand petition also notes that although he had visited Bangladesh multiple times previously, he failed to provide specific reasons for those trips.
Dhaka DB alleges that Rabiul Islam has links to the Indian intelligence agency 'RAW'.
Rabiul provided conflicting information at different times during questioning. Remand and interrogation are deemed necessary to verify this information and to ascertain the specific purpose of his stay in Bangladesh.
It is reported that the Dhaka DB is subjecting Rabiul Islam to intensive interrogation under remand to investigate the inconsistencies found in the information and documents he provided.
Reporter Salim Reza