Top human rights activist arrested in Bangladesh

Bangladesh authorities have arrested human rights activist on charges of misleading people by disseminating "false information" about police crackdown against Hefazat-e-Islam members in May.

Dhaka: Bangladesh authorities have arrested a top human rights activist on charges of misleading people by disseminating "false information" about the police crackdown against ultra fundamentalist Hefazat-e-Islam members in May.

Adilur Rahman Khan Shuvro, secretary of Odhikar group is allegedly linked closely with right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, and was arrested under Information and Technology Act on Saturday night. "He has been arrested under the Information and Communication Technology Act," a police spokesman today told newsmen, adding Detective Branch officials picked him up from his residence at up market Gulshan area here. A Dhaka court today ordered Shuvro to be remanded in custody for five days rejecting his bail plea after he was produced before metropolitan magistrate Amit Kumar Dey. "It is an offence to be involved with such campaigns that damage the image of the country to the world. Hijacking the rights of others in the name of human rights is not acceptable to anybody," Home Minister MK Alamgir told newsmen at a briefing at his office. He added there was "no scope to excuse such an offence" and Shuvro and others must face legal action for such offences. Earlier, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Monirul Islam at a news briefing said Shuvo was arrested as the Odhikar website also carried "distorted pictures" of so called slain Islamists using Photoshop software for their "imaginary" claim of 61 people killed in the police action. Odhikar claimed "hundreds" of people were killed in the police action and primarily they gathered the identities of 61 of them. BDNews24.Com reported that some in the human rights group also said Shuvro had circulated the report to foreign groups claiming that up to 2,500 people had been killed in the anti-Hefazat campaign by police. The newly floated Hefazat, allegedly backed by Jamaat and main opposition BNP, had enforced their Dhaka siege programme on May 5 sparking deadly violence. Odhikar is a leading independent rights group and Shuvro, a former deputy attorney general during the past BNP-led right wing government, is widely known for his anti-Awami League stance. A former left leaning activist, Shuvro is also allegedly linked closely with Jamaat, whose leaders are now facing prosecution for war crimes during the 1971 liberation war. Meanwhile, opposition BNP strongly condemned his arrest calling it "nothing but part of government conspiracies" and demanded his immediate release. PTI