College student detained over Facebook video criticising high electricity bill

Police have detained a college student in Gazipur over a Facebook video in which he complained about unusually high electricity bills at his home and allegedly used abusive language against government officials.

The student, identified as Sifat Abdullah, was detained from his home in Gazipur around 8:30pm on Thursday (September 3).

Sifat is a student of Adamjee Cantonment College and is reportedly a supporter of the National Citizens Party (NCP), according to police and local sources.

Golam Rabbani, officer-in-charge (OC) of Gacha Police Station, confirmed the detention, saying Sifat was brought to the police station around 9pm over allegations of making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

According to police, Sifat had been making what they described as objectionable comments and posts about the prime minister and government officials on social media for some time. On Thursday, he uploaded a video lasting about one minute and 24 seconds.

In the video, Sifat claimed that his household electricity bill was Tk 4,000 for the current month and Tk 5,000 the previous month, which he said was unusually high. During the video, he allegedly used abusive language while criticising those responsible for the electricity charges.

Police said local BNP activists alerted them after the video circulated on social media. Officers subsequently went to Sifat’s home and took him to the police station.

OC Golam Rabbani said police were preparing to file a case against him over the alleged remarks about the prime minister.

A post later appeared on Sifat’s Facebook account around 10pm, stating that he had been arrested.