Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Tuesday alleged that Indian-made malware was spread through an official email account linked to the President’s Office, leading to a series of cyberattacks and social media account hacks targeting the party’s senior leaders amid heightened political tensions ahead of the 13th national parliamentary elections.
The allegations were made at a late-night press conference at the party’s central office in Dhaka’s Moghbazar area by engineer Mohammad Sirajul Islam, a member of Jamaat’s central Majlis-e-Shura and its election management committee.
Sirajul Islam said the party’s Ameer, Dr Shafiqur Rahman, fell victim to a cyberattack on January 31 when his X account, formerly Twitter, was hacked and used to publish offensive posts targeting women. The same content was later shared after hackers gained access to the Facebook page of Dhaka Metropolitan South Jamaat Secretary Shafiqul Islam Masud. Jamaat’s technical team quickly recovered both accounts and changed their passwords to regain control, he added.
He said the incident triggered widespread criticism and political attacks from rival groups, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. As the controversy intensified, hackers again targeted Jamaat’s Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar, compromising his X account and posting content aimed at defending the earlier hacked post.
Jamaat said it promptly removed the content, issued a public clarification, and decided to file a case under the Cyber Security Act, in addition to lodging a general diary.
According to Sirajul Islam, forensic analysis revealed that the malware entered Jamaat’s systems through an official email sent from [assistantprogrammer@bangabhaban.gov.bd](mailto:assistantprogrammer@bangabhaban.gov.bd), an address associated with the President’s Office. The message was sent to Jamaat’s central email account, with multiple other recipients copied, and also reached the Dhaka Metropolitan South Jamaat office.
He claimed the malware has already compromised several devices, though the exact number remains unknown, and said the government has been informed.
“We expect the authorities to determine how many devices were illegally taken over by intruders,” he said.
Citing laboratory forensic reports, Sirajul Islam said the original source of the malicious email traced back to a government server hosted at bangabhaban.gov.bd, with the initial mailbox identified as bcc.gov.bd.
He further claimed technical analysis showed the phishing malware was developed in India before being introduced into Bangladesh.
The Jamaat leader said the party believes the cyberattacks were politically motivated and aimed at damaging its growing public support. “These attempts will not succeed in stopping Jamaat’s popularity. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami firmly believes in women’s dignity, security, and empowerment. Distorting our stance to malign us is unacceptable and has been rejected by the people,” he said.
Responding to questions, Sirajul Islam said officials at Bangabhaban have assured the party of an investigation and were asked to provide details of actions taken within 24 hours.
He rejected criticism that Jamaat lacked the capacity to safeguard digital platforms, saying the swift recovery of compromised accounts demonstrated the party’s technical competence.
He also alleged that a political group may be involved in the hacking campaign, citing what he described as coordinated propaganda efforts following the cyber incidents.
Calling for ideological and policy-based political competition, he urged opponents to engage in open debate rather than resort to cyber sabotage.
The press conference was also attended by journalist Oliullah Noman, a member of Jamaat’s national election management committee, and barrister Saifuddin Khaled.
Later, on early Wednesday, detectives branch of police have detained a Bangabhaban official in connection with his alleged involvement in hacking the X account.
The detainee was identified as Mohammad Sarwar Alam, an assistant programmer (ICT) at Bangabhaban.
Additional Commissioner (DB) Shafiqul Islam said a team of DB police conducted a drive in Rajarbagh area and detained Sarwar late at night.
He is now being interrogated at the DB office, Shafiqul added.
