Nurul Kabir’s harassment happened due to Hasina regime’s ‘block list’: SB Police

The Special Branch (SB) of police has expressed regret over the incidents at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, where New Age editor Nurul Kabir said he was harassed by police officers.

In response, the SB opened an investigation into the matter and fired the officer accused of misconduct, according to the senior advisor’s press wing.

According to the SB, the incident stemmed from a “block list” created under the previous administration led by Sheikh Hasina.

The list, believed to contain thousands of names, was used to target politically connected people, dissidents, journalists and human rights activists by hindering their travel abroad.

“After the interim government took power, the Special Branch began removing politically connected persons, dissidents, journalists and human rights activists from the blocked list,” the SB statement said .

The statement also said that the process of updating the list is largely manual, resulting in some names of dissidents and journalists remaining on it.

“We have now accelerated our efforts to clean up the list,” the statement said.

“Once again, we are sorry for this unfortunate incident. The Bangladesh Police are friends of the people and wish to serve the country in an exemplary manner,” the statement added.

Earlier, the New Age editor claimed he was harassed at the city airport twice this week while flying to and from Colombo to attend a press conference.

In a post on his verified Facebook, Kabir wrote: “The country’s immigration authorities have been harassing me at Dhaka airport every time I go abroad for over two decades. »

On November 23, the CA news agency said: “We sincerely regret the incident. » Senior Advisor Professor Yunus also ordered an investigation into the incident.