The six coordinators of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement who were taken into DB custody have been released.
The six coordinators were freed from DB custody around 1:30 pm on Thursday.
Rifat Rashid, one of the coordinators, confirmed their release in a Facebook post.
Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters at the secretariat today that the quota protest coordinators left DB office this afternoon.
“It is also true that they had sought security from us. A GD was also filed in this regard. Now they say they don’t need security anymore, when they expressed their desire to leave, we did not obstruct them. They have gone. ”
The DB took six key coordinators-Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Abu Bakar Mojumdar, Sarjess Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum- into custody on July 27,28 and 29.
On Sunday afternoon, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Deputy Commissioner Harun or Rashid, who was transferred from DB on Wednesday, said the coordinators were detained for “security reasons.”
In a video message released while under police custody, Nahid Islam, a coordinator of the quota reform movement, announced the withdrawal of their protest programme on Sunday night.
Coordinators not under police custody moved quickly to assure the movement’s supporters that this was to be expected, and they agreed beforehand to reject or disregard any statement they or their fellow coordinators made while under police custody. Effectively accused was coerced into making this statement under duress.
Later, a photo of the coordinators at a dining table was posted on Harunur Rashid’s Facebook page, followed shortly by the release of Nahid Islam’s video message.
Despite this announcement, other coordinator of the quota movement from different universities including Dhaka University issued statements vowing to continue their protests until their nine-point demands are met.
