26 Buet students land in jail Charges against them false: Family members

DU Correspondent :
The family members of the students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) who were arrested by the police while on a trip to Sunamganj’s Tanguar Haor on charge of involving terrorism claimed that the allegations leveled against their children were ‘false, fabricated and unimaginable’.

The parents and the family members said this at a press conference held at BUET Shaheed Minar on Tuesday, the day after the students were arrested and sent them to jail under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“We can say with a challenge that our children are not involved in any kind of anti-state activities. They were never involved in any such work including politics,” Ali Ahsan Junaid said on behalf of students family.

Meanwhile, the students were arrested on Sunday from Tanguar Haor and sent to Sunamganj jail through

the court on Monday showing their arrest in the case by the Sunamganj police.
The police will also seek remand for all the arrestee students for investigating the case.
According to the police, 31 of the arrestees were students of BUET. However, family members of 24 students were present in the press conference and demanded to release the 34 detained students immediately.

The police, however, claim that the arrested students are affiliated with the Chattra Shibir. They sat in a meeting to plot against the government as a means of traveling to Haor.
Ali Ahsan Junaid, the elder brother of Ali Ammar Muaz, a student of Mechanical Engineering Department of BUET, read out a written statement at the press conference on behalf of the parents.
“We are shocked to hear such unimaginable allegations about our children. We feel that such ridiculous and fabricated allegations are completely intentional and mischievous. Arbitrary detention of our children, filing of cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act has put our children’s education at risk,” he said. “Furthermore, as student politics is prohibited on the BUET campus, we have always cautioned them about this and they have also remained apolitical,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Sunamganj court has sent 34 people, including 26 Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) students, to jail on charges of engaging in terrorist activities in disguise of visitors at Tanguar Haor.
Police said the students were members of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Shibir. They were allegedly plotting a conspiracy against the government.
Sunamganj Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Farhan Sadiq on Monday evening passed the order, after police produced them in court following their arrest on Sunday.
Sunamganj Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abu Sayed said: “They were allegedly engaged in secret meetings and seditious activities during their visit to Haor.”
On Sunday, they were apprehended on charges of conspiring against the government.
Following 24 hours of interrogation, Tahirpur police station Sub-Inspector Rashedul Kabir filed a case against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act on Monday evening, confirmed Sunamganj ASP Abu Sayed.
Sources report that the group of 34 ventured to Tanguar Haor for sightseeing on Sunday, starting their journey at around 7am and roaming through various parts of haor.
In the afternoon, their boat went to the Patlai River.
According to the police, during their stay on the Patlai River, the group of students held a secret meeting.
The alleged discussions included conspiracies against the government and plots to cause harm to the general public.
Acting on a tip-off, Tahirpur police positioned themselves in front of the new market in Tahirpur.