Ex-army officer Ziaul Ahsan on 8-day remand

A Dhaka court has placed former army major general Ziaul Ahsan on an 8-day remand.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Arfatul Rakib granted the remand after he was produced in the court in a murder case today.

The former National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) director general was arrested in the capital's Khilkhet area Thursday night based on a tip-off, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

He was arrested in the same case as Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman, a top DMP official earlier told The Business Standard.

However, Ziaul claimed he was picked up on 7 August and was held at the "Aynaghor", countering police reports of arresting him Thursday night from Khilkhet.

"A team of DGFI picked me up from my house on 7 August. I was kept at the Aynaghor for the last eight days. I am not involved with any murder, enforced disappearance," Zia told the court during the hearing.

He said, "Ask anyone who has been freed from the Aynaghor to say if I held them there. The way I am being blamed is not right. I am unwell. I am suffering from many complications, including heart problems."

In its remand application, the police claimed that Gen Zia had confessed to Bangladesh buying Israeli spyware Pegasus, developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that is designed to be covertly and remotely installed on mobile phones running iOS and Android.

However, in court, he gave a different statement.

"There is nothing called Pegasus. I did not track any phones," he told the court when asked about the spyware.

Major Zia's reign of terror

Although Zia denied any connection to Aynaghar in court today, serious allegations against the former major general include involvement in enforced disappearances of opposition activists, torture at the notorious Aynaghar, and the interception of private communications.

Zia, who has held various key positions in law enforcement agencies, is also accused of direct involvement in the 2013 shooting at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka.

Ziaul Ahsan began his military career as an infantry officer in the Bangladesh Army in 1991. In 2009, shortly after the Awami League came to power, he was appointed co-commander of RAB-2 while still holding the rank of major.

He quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the first director general of the NTMC in 2022. Throughout his career, Zia steadily climbed the ranks reportedly due to his favour with the previous government, despite allegations of controversial activities.

Unauthorised phone tapping

His tenure at the NTMC was marked by allegations of misuse of power, including the recording of private conversations of high-profile government and opposition leaders, as well as law enforcement officials.

He is accused of leaking these recordings, particularly those of opposition figures from the BNP, which were later broadcast on various television channels.

An NTMC official, requesting anonymity, told TBS that Ziaul Ahsan recorded the private conversations of many people, especially BNP leaders.

Most recently, during the student protests demanding quota reforms, recordings of conversations among government officials, including strategies to suppress the protests, were reportedly found at Ganabhaban.

Involvement in internet shutdown

According to law enforcement sources, Zia, alongside the former state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak was directly involved in the recent internet shutdowns in July.

Allegedly, Zia threatened several data centres to comply with the shutdowns.

During the quota reform protest, mobile internet was shut down on 17 July, followed by broadband internet on 18 July. Services resumed about five days later.

Involvement in disappearances, murders

From 2009 to 2015, over a hundred BNP and Jamaat leaders were reportedly victims of enforced disappearances and murders. Ziaul Ahsan is accused of being directly involved in these incidents, particularly during his tenure at RAB.

Notably, he is alleged to have played a role in the disappearance of BNP leader Ilias Ali in 2012 and the Narayanganj seven murders in 2014.

Despite these accusations, Ziaul Ahsan avoided prosecution due to his favourable standing with the former government.