Notable journalist, opinion maker and former editor of the daily Jaijaidin, has been picked up by plainclothesmen.

Best known for his incisive criticism of the government during General Ershad’s dictatorship through his weekly column, Shafik Rehman has come to be known as a sympathiser and an informal adviser of the main political opposition BNP.

Claiming to be police detectives, Detective Branch personnel arrested Shafik Rehman from his house in Dhaka’s Eskaton.

Head of Dhaka DB’s south zone, Masrukur Rahman Khalid, said that Shafik was arrested for plotting to abduct and murder Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Joy is also a prime ministerial adviser for ICT affairs.

The case was filed by DB Inspector Fazlur Rahman with the Paltan police in August, 2015.
The inspector had named BNP’s cultural wing JaSaS Vice-President Mohammad Ullah Mamun and a number of unidentified BNP leaders.

A US court sentenced JaSaS leader Mamun’s son Rizve Ahmed Caesar on March 4, 2015 for his involvement in bribery scheme to obtain confidential information from a former FBI special agent in New York.