Mahmudur Rahman arrested

Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of the pro-BNP 'Amar Desh' daily, was arrested on Tuesday morning in Dhaka.

DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman told that the editor was arrested from Amar Desh office around 9:00am.

The editor was taken to the Minto Road office of the Detective Branch in the capital.

Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman said a case was filed against the editor on a High Court directive for his involvement in the December 2012 Skype controversy.

“He (Mahmudur) has been arrested in this case.”

Charges will be brought against him under sections 57 and 58 of Cyber Crime and ICT Act -2006 and sections 124, 124(a), 120(b) and 511 of the Penal Code, Masudur Rahman said.

“He has been arrested on the basis of evidence obtained after investigation. That is why his arrest took some time,” he replied upon answering why it took more than four months after the Skpye controversy to arrest Mahmudur Rahman.

Meanwhile, employees at Amar Desh office protested against the arrest of their Acting Editor.

“Police took away video footage from our close circuit cameras as well computers and files of our Acting Editor,” Amar Desh Correspondent Mahbubur Rahman said.

Mahmudur Rahman was Acting Editor at Amar Desh since 2008. BNP leader and former BNP Home Minister Mosaddek Ali Falu is the owner of Amar Desh.

Mahmudur Rahman has been imprisoned in the past over charges of contempt.

Awami League leaders have alleged that 'Amar Desh' was inciting violence, with some saying that Rahman was used as funding conduit by the Opposition alliance to pay off Hifazat-e-Islam leaders for undertaking the recent Chittagong-Dhaka long march.

On Wednesday, foreign minister Dipu Moni, while briefing foreign diplomats, warned that some media groups were clearly crossing the limits of media freedom and were involved in inciting violence.

Mahmudur Rahman was energy edvisor to former Prime Minister Khaleda during the 2001-06 BNP regime.

He shot into focus when 'Amar Desh' exposed the so-called Skype controversy , by publishing 'transcripts' of conversation between Justice Nizamul Huq of the International Crimes Tribunal and Belgium-based international law expert Ahmed Ziauddin.

Justice Huq had to resign and the first war crimes tribunal had to be reconstituted but questions have been raised about the legality of hacking into Justice Huq's Skype account.

Secular groups allege Mahmudur Rahman is the moving force inciting religious sentiments against bloggers and online activists leading Shahbagh's Ganajagaran Mancha. The Mancha has demanded Mahmudur Rahman's arrest.

Earlier on Feb 23, Mahmudur Rahman was implicated in five cases filed by Ramna and Shahbagh police stations, in which he has been accused of whipping up religious passions and incitement to cause public disorder.