Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury taken into DB custody

Detective Branch (DB) police have taken Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, a veteran journalist and former information adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to their office in Dhaka.

He was taken from the DB office in the capital’s Mohakhali area on Wednesday afternoon, November 4, and brought to the DB office on Minto Road. Law enforcement authorities have not provided details about the specific reason for taking him there.

DB chief Shafiqul Islam confirmed the development. However, Mohammad Akter Hossain, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Media and Public Relations Division, said Chowdhury had neither been detained nor arrested. He said DB police had taken him to their office to prevent an unwanted situation. Police were speaking with him and questioning him there.

Earlier, on April 15, Chowdhury was sent back from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. He was scheduled to fly to Jeddah on a Saudi Airlines flight that day. The reason for preventing his departure was not disclosed at the time.

Chowdhury had largely remained out of public view since the fall of the Awami League government following the student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024. In September that year, he went to the National Press Club to attend the funeral of journalist leader Ruhul Amin Gazi.

During his long career in journalism, Chowdhury held leadership positions in the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) and the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ). He also served as chairman of the board of directors of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the national news agency. He currently serves as chairman of DBC News.

Alongside journalism, he was also involved in politics. He contested the 2008 ninth parliamentary election from the Feni-2 constituency as an Awami League candidate but was defeated. He later served as information adviser to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.