Tawhid Afridi placed on 5-day remand in July uprising murder case

A Dhaka court has placed content creator Tawhid Afridi on a five-day remand in a case filed over the murder of Asadul Haque Babu in Jatrabari during last year's July Uprising.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque issued the order today (25 August) after a hearing on a remand petition. 

Afridi, son of MyTV Chairman Nasir Uddin, and a director of the private TV channel, was arrested in Barishal on Sunday night.

Afridi is widely known as a social media influencer and had close ties with former police officer Harun ur Rashid, also known as DB Harun, who is currently absconding.

CID Police Inspector Khan Md Erfan, the investigating officer, produced Afridi before the court and sought a seven-day remand. The petition alleged that Afridi, as a content creator and director of MyTV, supported the former Awami League government and opposed the anti-discrimination student movement.

It claimed he incited other celebrities to discourage participation, threatened those who disagreed, and aired live broadcasts containing provocative statements and propaganda.

The remand petition further stated that Babu's death resulted from indiscriminate police gunfire, which was influenced by Afridi's activities. 

Investigators said Afridi's interrogation was needed to identify others involved and gather further evidence.

Lawyer cites Afridi's illness, wife's pregnancy in bail plea

Afridi's lawyer, Advocate Khairul Islam, argued that his client had no connection to the incident during last year's mass uprising.

He claimed that the victim was killed by "indiscriminate shooting" from Awami League leaders, activists, and law enforcement agency members. 

The lawyer also presented an affidavit from the case's plaintiff, dated 11 November of the previous year, stating that Afridi's name was included by mistake and that the plaintiff had no objection to his acquittal.

Advocate Khairul Islam highlighted Afridi's health issues, mentioning that he suffers from kidney complications. He also appealed to the court's "humanitarian aspect," noting that Afridi's wife is pregnant. 

In response to the prosecution's claims, the lawyer stated that Afridi was actually in favour of the student movement, presenting posts as evidence. He also clarified that Afridi has no political affiliation, and his father is a businessman. 

Despite these arguments, the court granted the five-day remand and ordered that Afridi be provided with ambulance facilities for transport. 

Case background

According to the case statement, Asadul Haque Babu participated in a demonstration in the Jatrabari area on 5 August last year during the July Uprising. He was shot in the chest and later died in a hospital.

His father, Zainal Abedin, filed a murder case on 30 August, naming the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 25 others.

The list of accused includes both Afridi and his father, MyTV Chairman Nasir Uddin Sathi. Afridi is the 11th-named accused in the case, while Nasir Uddin is the 22nd.

Nasir Uddin was also arrested in the Gulshan area on 17 August in relation to the same case. A court granted five days' remand the following day. After completing the remand period, he was sent to jail on 23 August.