Model and Miss Bangladesh Foundation chairperson Meghna Alam, who was detained by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 Detective Branch Wednesday afternoon, was placed on a 30-day detention under the Special Powers Act, 1974 Thursday night over allegations of risking state security.
The court of Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Sefatulla sent Meghna to Kashimpur Central Jail for detention following an appeal by the Detective Branch.
Police had initially denied Meghna鈥檚 detention for questioning for more than 24 hours, but Thursday evening DB chief Rezaul Karim Mallik confirmed her detention without disclosing details.
The DMP in a statement on Friday said that Meghna Alam was taken into safe custody over allegations of disrupting state security and attempting to deteriorate inter-state relationship by spreading false information about important individuals and conspiring to harm the country economically.
The Dhaka city police claimed that she was taken into safe custody following legal procedures.
鈥楾he accusation of kidnapping Meghna Alam is not true. Nevertheless, she has the right to seek legal recourse,鈥� said the statement signed by DMP deputy commissioner for media and public relations Muhammad Talebur Rahman.
Police and foreign ministry officials said that police were investigating allegations of blackmailing several diplomats and subversive activities against Meghna.
Asked about the allegations of blackmailing diplomats, Talebur said that he did not know anything except what was said in the DMP statement.
Ziauddin Ahmed, joint secretary for political-2 branch at Public Security Division of the home ministry, said that they had sent a good number of people to detention under the Special Powers Act since the political changeover on August 5, 2024.
He, however, could not give the exact figure.
Meghna went live on her verified Facebook account at about 5:00pm on Wednesday, where she shared that some people identifying themselves as law enforcers from the Vatara police station tried to break into her house without a search warrant.
Terrified, Meghna asked them to leave and told them that she would go to the police station on her own.
It was seen in her Facebook live video that several people broke the door of her flat and entered the house, forcefully taking her phone away.聽
