The Crime Desk: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to leave the country under the pressure of students and the common people’s movement. He resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 and left the country.
Former Minister of State for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak was hiding in a room in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan area for almost 24 hours after Sheikh Hasina’s departure.
After the fall of the Awami League government, Palak was in that area till noon (August 6). He then took a special route to the airport to escape abroad. But the army took him into their custody from there. This information is known from related sources.
According to a source related to the investigation, Junaid Ahmed Palak has been crying most of the time since his arrest. He also denied responsibility for the internet shutdown. According to him, even though he was the state minister, he had no sole decision to shut down the internet.
During the interrogation, Palak said that he took the decision to shut down the internet by following the instructions of former army officer Ziaul Ahsan, head of the intelligence agency and director general of NTMC. Besides, Sheikh Hasina was in favor of an internet shutdown.
According to the interrogating sources, Junaid Ahmed Palak is the most broken among the VIP accused. He could not have imagined that the government could fall so quickly. Although he also admitted to sending his wife and children abroad a day ago. According to Palak, he could have fled the country if he wanted to. However, he did not go because he would be “dishonest” with Sheikh Hasina.
Rickshaw driver Kamal Mia (39) was shot dead in the Paltan Thana area of the capital during the quota reform movement on July 19. Fatema Khatun, the victim’s wife, filed a murder case on July 20 accusing the unidentified perpetrators in the Paltan Police Station of the capital. Shamsul Haque Tuku, Junaid Ahmed Palak, and Chhatra League’s Dhaka University Branch General Secretary Tanveer Hasan Saikat were arrested in that case on August 14.
