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Police have detained five people after a viral video showed freedom fighter Abdul Hai Kanu being humiliated with a garland of shoes in Cumilla's Chauddagram Upazila.
Chauddagram Police Station chief ATM Akhtar Uz Zaman said the detentions were made on Monday night during operations in the sub-district.
The detainees have been named as Ismail Hossain Majumdar, 43, son of Abdul Haque Majumdar from Kuliyara village in Batisha Union; Jamal Uddin Majumdar, 58, son of deceased Sultan Ahmed Majumdar from the same area; Elias Bhuiyan, 58, son of deceased Ishaq Bhuiyan; local mosque Imam Abul Kalam Azad, 48; and Imtiaz Abdullah Sajjad, 19, son of Zakir Hossain from Moishadi village in Chandpur Sadar, reports bdnews24.com.
On Sunday, a group of people humiliated 1971 war veteran Kanu by forcing a garland of shoes around his neck and parading him around the village.
They filmed the incident and circulated the video on social media that evening, sparking widespread outrage.
The 1-minute-47-second video shows two men pulling Kanu, who was wearing the garland of shoes, while he repeatedly begged to be released.
Kanu, a central member of the Krishak League and former vice-president of the organisation’s Cumilla South District Committee, lives in Ludiyara village near the site of the incident.
Although Kanu’s family have blamed local members of Jamaat-e-Islami for the incident, the party has denied any involvement.
However, on Monday, Jamaat announced the expulsion of two of its activists linked to the incident.
The expelled Jamaat activists, Abul Hashem and Ohidur Rahman, were not among the detainees. However, one detainee, Imtiaz Abdullah Sajjad, is the nephew of Hashem.
Speaking to journalists at 4pm, police officer Akhtar said: “After the video went viral, the two main suspects went into hiding, making it impossible to arrest them. Following directives from the Chief Advisor's Office, we detained five individuals based on the video footage and sent them to court under Section 54.”
Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates the circumstances allowing police to make an arrest without a warrant.
He claimed, “We immediately visited Abdul Hai Kanu’s home after reviewing the footage, but he was not there. Later, we learned he had moved to a safe location. When I contacted him to discuss the incident, he refused to provide any details or information about the perpetrators.”
“The freedom fighter informed us today that he plans to file a case. Once he files it, the detainees will be shown as arrested in that case.”