Court accepts police’s plea to arrest 219 expats for tarnishing country’s image

CNI Desk: Court accepts police’s plea to formally arrest the expats, who have been serving jail in 3 Middle-Eastern countries

A court in Dhaka has sent 219 expatriate Bangladeshis, who recently returned from Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain,  to prison for their alleged involvements in attempts to tarnish the image of the Bangladesh government.

Following their arrivals, the expats were sent to a 14-day quarantine at the army-operated facility in Diabari, said the local Turag Police Station, which produced them in the court.

“The expats, in separate groups, were plotting to tarnish the image of the country while in quarantine,” Turag police OC Nurul Muttakkin told Dhaka Tribune.

After receiving reports, the police pleaded to the court to arrest them under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows law-enforcers to make arrest without a warrant.

These expatriates were serving jail terms in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain on various charges, according to the court’s General Recording Officer Shafiqul Islam.  

“They were released from jail and deported due to the coronavirus outbreak. The have been arrested for conspiring to tarnish Bangladesh’s image,” he said.