Bangladesh court sends 2 journalists to police custody for questioning as chaos continues

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A court in Bangladesh’s capital Thursday allowed police to interrogate two journalists in their custody for four days in connection with the murder of a garment worker, who joined recent student protests against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that forced her to step down and flee to India earlier this month.

Ekattor TV’s former Head of News Shakil Ahmed and former Principal Correspondent Farzana Rupa were arrested on Wednesday when the couple, along with their young daughter, went to Dhaka’s main Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to travel overseas.

After hours of questioning at the airport, the couple was taken into custody. They had attempted to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Paris via Istanbul. The two journalists worked for the pro-Hasina TV channel and were fired by authorities after her government’s fall, apparently under pressure from student leaders who are regularly issuing ultimatums to remove people from various sectors.

On Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ahmed Humayun Kabir granted four days of police remand after hearing an application filed by police official Mohaiminur Rahman, who had sought a 10-day remand for questioning them.

Names of Ahmed and Rupa were not initially included in a murder case of the garment worker who died during a demonstration on Aug. 5 in Dhaka’s Uttara. The case named 39 accused including Hasina for murder. The journalists were arrested as two of the unnamed accused.

Police said Thursday that the journalist couple had instigated the government of former Hasina to kill protesters.

“We came to know based on a tip-off that the accused had instigated the (former) government to crush the students in the quota reform movement. The misery