Court rejects bail for Gazipur student Sifat in anti-terrorism case

A Gazipur court today (7 September) rejected the bail application of college student Md Abdullah Sifat, who was shown arrested in an Anti-Terrorism Act case after a video in which he criticised electricity bills and made offensive remarks about the prime minister went viral on social media.

Judge Rakibul Islam of Gazipur Metropolitan Magistrate Court-5 passed the order following a hearing.

Advocate Rashedul Islam Robi, the defence lawyer for Sifat, sought bail,while Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Siddiqur Rahman opposed the application.

The PP said," The arrested Sifat is a collaborator of fascism. He worked as an agent of the fallen Awami League government. He had been working for the fascists even before 5 August, which he is continuing now."

After the hearing, defence lawyer Advocate Rashedul Islam Robi said," We sought bail, but his bail was rejected. The statement or abuses regarding the electricity and fuel crisis that brought Sifat Abdullah into discussion are not in the FIR.

"The state prosecutors did not raise this in the hearing either. He was shown arrested in a case from 4 June, with which Sifat Abdullah has no connection. This is political harassment."

The detention followed a 1 minute 25 second video Sifat posted on his Facebook page on 2 September. In the video, he displayed two electricity bills showing monthly charges of Tk4,000 and Tk5,000 and made offensive remarks directed at government officials and the prime minister.

After the video went viral, Gacha police detained him on the night of 3 September.

Earlier, on 4 September, a Gazipur court sent Sifat to jail after police showed him arrested in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Electricity bill investigated

After Sifat claimed in the video that an unusually high electricity bill had arrived at his house, Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity-1 investigated the matter.

The investigation, however, found no irregularity in the bill, officials said.

Md Ahsan Kabir, deputy general manager (DGM) of Gazipur Palli Bidyut Samity's Board Bazar Zonal Office, said Sifat's allegation of an excessive bill was completely baseless.

"We conducted a detailed on-site investigation. No irregularity or error of any kind was found in preparing the subscriber's bill, nor was an excessive bill issued," he said.

According to the investigation report, there are three residential electricity meters at Sifat's two-storey house in the Khailkur Tin Mosque area of Ward No 38 in Gazipur City Corporation.

A review of records from May to August showed that the total bill for the three meters in July and August was Tk10,681, which was close to the Tk10,000 bill claimed in Sifat's video. The report found no discrepancy or irregularity in the calculation.

During the four-month period, the three meters recorded a combined consumption of 2,080 units, with the total bill amounting to Tk16,273.

Despite finding no anomaly or error in the three electricity bills, Sifat's remarks about the prime minister in the video and his subsequent arrest sparked political debate nationwide.

Meanwhile, police confirmed that no separate defamation case was filed against Sifat over his remarks about the prime minister. Rather, he was shown arrested in an old Anti-Terrorism Act case filed on 4 June and sent to prison on 4 September.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Israil Howlader said the issue concerning Sifat's remarks had been legally reviewed and police had gathered information about Sifat's involvement with the activities of a banned organisation after verifying his statements and other details.

"Investigations have uncovered information regarding his involvement in organising and conducting rallies for banned organisations at various times," he said.

He added that a rigorous investigation is under way to establish the facts.