Court grants Fariya Mahzabin three-day remand under ICT Act

A Dhaka court has remanded Fariya Mahzabin, a coffee shop owner, in police custody for three days for questioning over charges of making provocative remarks on the social media during the road safety movement.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Mainuddin passed the order in response to an application filed by the police, a day after she was arrested by RAB under the ICT Act from her residence at Hazi Afsar Uddin Road on Thursday night.

Around 11am on Friday, the elite force handed her over to Hazaribagh police, reports bdnews24.com.

Mahzabin, 28, runs a coffee shop named Nerdy Bean Coffee House in Dhanmondi area. She studied at the North Western University, according to the RAB.

Mahzabin was accused of spreading rumours, but the elite force did not disclose details on the case in which she was arrested.

Eight cases under the ICT Act have been filed with different police stations in Dhaka on charges of spreading rumours during the students’ protest for safe roads. In all these cases, 29 people have been accused in the cases.

Earlier, photographer-activist Shahidul Alam has been arrested for his social media posts and media comments while actress and model Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed for ‘spreading rumours’ on Facebook.

A student of BUET has also been arrested over ‘Facebook rumours’.

University students joined the protests launched by the students of schools and colleges after the deaths of two of their peers in a road crash in Dhaka on Jul 29, bringing the capital to a halt for more than a week.