An American citizen of Bangladeshi origin has been arrested on charges of working with foreign agencies. The Police have accused Enayet Karim Chowdhury of attempting to topple the interim government in Bangladesh. The Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate granted the Police a remand of 2 days. The investigator officer in the case had sought a 10 days remand.
The Police arrested Enayet under the Special Powers Act after observing him act “suspiciously.” The Police detained him on Saturday while he was driving a car on Minto Road in Dhaka. The Police say that the arrested individual is a contracted agent of a foreign intelligence agency.
According to the remand plea filed by the police, Enayet said that the Yunus-led interim government was “in a fragile position” and “distanced from the Army”. He allegedly claimed that his mission was to “work towards forming a new national or caretaker government”.
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The plea also says, “He admitted to collecting information on the positions of senior officials and political leaders in the current context and passing it on to his contracted intelligence handlers.” It accused Enayet of engaging in “efforts to destabilise public security and sovereignty by acting as an agent of a foreign intelligence service to overthrow the legal interim government of Bangladesh.”
Enayet also reportedly held secret meetings with government officials, political leaders and business figures. The plea said, “The accused, along with unidentified others, secretly conspired and held consultations with leaders of marginalised political parties, senior government and non-government officials, and business elites, with the aim of ousting the government by creating public unrest, spreading panic among citizens, and causing damage to state property through public protests.”
Increased US Activity in Bangladesh
Experts have long suspected US intelligence agencies of involvement in the coup against Sheikh Hasina. After the coup, the US Government along with their western partners have been quite active in the country.
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The USA has also made attempts to sell American military equipment to Bangladesh. Earlier in March, Lieutenant General Joel ‘JB’ Vowell met with Bangladeshi military officials to discuss greater collaboration. The US Embassy said that they discussed “potential acquisition of US-origin equipment to enhance interoperability and capabilities”.
