<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested Sultana Ahmed, general secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal, in a Digital Security Act case, just after she arrived back in Dhaka following a rally in Barishal. Police have also received permission to interrogate her in their custody for two days, according to media reports.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Sultana returned to Dhaka on Sunday morning after attending a BNP rally in Barishal. A RAB-3 team detained her as she was travelling home to Gulshan by car from the Sadarghat river port.</div><div><br></div><div>“A Digital Security Act case has been filed against Sultana Ahmed,” said Mohammad Salah Uddin Miah of Paltan Police Station.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>“She made derogatory comments about the prime minister. An aggrieved citizen filed a case against her.”</div><div><br></div><div>The plaintiff in the case is former Gopalganj District Chhatra League President Abdul Hamid.</div><div><br></div><div>“RAB-3 arrested and handed her over to the police station. Police have taken her to the court and petitioned for a seven-day remand in that case."</div><div><br></div><div>The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahidul Islam later granted police two days to interrogate the BNP activist over the comments.</div><div><br></div><div>Senior lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder represented Sultana at the hearing and petitioned for the remand petition to be scrapped and requested bail.</div><div><br></div><div>The lawyer said the Facebook post in question has not been proven to belong to Sultana. In addition, the comments are not inflammatory, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>"People all over the country are saying the same thing – will the government arrest them all?" he said.</div><div><br></div><div>The lawyer described the case as an example of political repression.</div><div><br></div><div>BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir mentioned the arrest during a discussion at the National Press Club on Sunday afternoon and said: "I condemn this incident and demand that she be released as quickly as possible.”</div><div><br></div><div>The ruling party was attempting to silence their opposition by harassing them with false cases, Fakhrul said.</div><div><br></div><div>“If she is not freed, the government will have to take full responsibility."</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>