| HEADLINE |
|
Two sent to jail after two-day remand over Rabindranath graffiti incident
Published : Tuesday, 13 October, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Court Correspondent
Marzia Khandaker Rimi and Sujan Mia were sent to jail on Tuesday after completing a two-day remand in a case filed over an attempt to deface graffiti of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in front of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Junayed passed the order after rejecting their bail petitions.
Sub-Inspector Abdul Gaffar Himel of Shahbagh Police Station, the investigation officer, produced the two before the court and sought their detention in jail, saying interrogation had yielded important information about other suspects who remain at large. He said the information was being verified and that further interrogation might be necessary.
Defence lawyer Monir Hossain Sumon sought bail, but the prosecution opposed the petitions.
On Sunday, the court had granted two days of remand for Rimi and Sujan and three days for Ayas and Sakibul Hasan.
The case was filed on Saturday by Shahbagh Police Station Sub-Inspector Ziaul Haque over an incident in which a group of youths allegedly attempted to erase Tagore's graffiti on a wall outside the Shilpakala Academy. Police detained four people, including A N M Ayas, member secretary of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum, following a confrontation at the scene.
A woman was seen applying black ink to the graffiti before a police officer intervened. She said the group had come to protest what they described as “Indian aggression”. The group, led by Ayas, also chanted slogans in the face of police resistance.
The accused face allegations of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity among groups and hurting religious sentiments.
The graffiti was part of a series of portraits painted on a wall beside a footpath in Segunbagicha after the Dhaka South City Corporation cleared the area of encroachments on October 5. The artworks featured 10 prominent figures from art, literature and culture, including Tagore, national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, artist Zainul Abedin, filmmaker Satyajit Roy and educationist Ishwar Chandra Bidyasagar.
A Facebook page named “July Revolutionary Alliance” questioned the inclusion of Roy and Bidyasagar in a post on Friday, describing them as cultural figures from West Bengal. The following day, a group led by Ayas went to remove the graffiti, triggering the confrontation with police.
-MAL/MT
Loading...
Loading...
Also read
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
