Former military officer Ziaul Ahsan, who was allegedly involved in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of people, was placed on eight-day remand in a murder case filed with the New Market police station in the capital.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Arafatul Rakib passed the order after sub-inspector Md Sajib Miah produced him before the court amid tight security, seeking a 10-day remand for interrogation.
Zia鈥檚 sister, Naznin Nahar, who is also his lawyer, opposed the remand prayer and submitted a petition聽 seeking his bail in the case.
Opposing his bail petition, lawyer Mohammad Ullah Khan told the court that Ziaul Ahsan was the key person behind the enforced disappearance and murder, and he was associated with 鈥榞enocide鈥�.
The lawyer also told the court that Zia was the creator of the 鈥橝ynaghar鈥� and that he played a key role in making the Awami League government fascist.
He was involved in crimes against humanity, said the lawyer, accusing Zia of masterminding the kidnapping and enforced disappearance of people of different opposition political parties for years.
Naznin told the court that her client did not build 鈥楢ynaghar鈥� and a media trial was being conducted against him on Facebook.
鈥楨veryone knows about 鈥楢ynaghar鈥� [the secret detention cell]. It is not true that 鈥楢ynaghar鈥� is his creation. Even he was at the 鈥楢ynaghar鈥� for the past eight days since August 7. To do any work of the army, the chief鈥檚 permission is required,鈥� she said.
Taking permission from the court, Zia told the court that a team of DGFI picked him up from home on the night of August 7. 鈥楢fter that, I was kept in the Aynaghor for eight days until last night. I am not involved in any murders or disappearances. I want justice.鈥�
He also said, 鈥楾he way I am being blamed is not correct. I am unwell. I have a 75 per cent blockage in my heart, along with other physical issues.鈥�
When the court asked about Pegasus software, Ziaul said, 鈥楾here is no such thing as Pegasus. I did not do mobile tracking. I am innocent.鈥�
Opposing his version, pro-BNP lawyers told the court that he was accused of genocide. He has no right to speak.
Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that the former director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre, Zia, was arrested early Friday by law enforcement agencies in the Khilkhet area based on secret information.
The families of the victims, who were forced to disappear during the three consecutive terms of the Awami League government, demanded capital punishment for Zia, alleging that he was one of the key officials involved in disappearance incidents.
Mayer Daak, a platform of the relatives of the victims of enforced disappearance, coordinator Sanjida Islam Tulee told 抖阴精品 that their first demand was the arrest of Zia and other commanding officers who were allegedly involved in enforced disappearance.
鈥榃e demanded capital punishment of the involved people through the formation of a commission under the supervision of the United Nations,鈥� said Sanjida, who is the sister of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Sajedul Islam Sumon, reportedly a victim of enforced disappearance that took place in 2013.
Human Rights Watch, in its 2023 report, claimed that security forces had committed over 600 enforced disappearances since 2009 in Bangladesh.
Earlier on Wednesday, private industry affairs adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Salman F Rahman, and former law minister Anisul Huq were placed on 10-day remand in the same case.
On July 17, Ayesha Begum, mother of 24-year-old victim Shahjahan Ali, filed a murder case against some unnamed killers over the death of her son Shahjahan, who was critically injured during quota reform protests on July 16 and died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
A day after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government amid a student-led mass uprising on August 6, major general Ziaul Ahsan, director general of the NTMC, was relieved of his duties.
Zia was commissioned into the Bangladesh Army in 1991. He served in the Rapid Action Battalion, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, and National Security Intelligence before joining NTMC in 2017.