Journalist leader and former president of the National Press Club and BFUJ, Shawkat Mahmud, has been shown arrested in a Shahbagh police case as an unidentified accused. After being detained last December and later released on bail before Eid, he was rearrested at the jail gate. The case, in which Awami League figure Latif Siddiqui and others are already on bail, alleges a conspiracy to distort and erase the history of the Liberation War. Family members of Mahmud broke down in tears, claiming he had no connection to the incident and that his name was not in the original complaint.

According to the case documents, the charges stem from an event organized by a group called “Moncho 71” at the Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium on August 28 of the previous year. Authorities allege that participants delivered provocative speeches aimed at destabilizing the country and toppling the interim government. The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana granted police permission to show Mahmud arrested in the case following an application by the investigating officer.

The prosecution stated that preliminary investigation found evidence linking Mahmud to the alleged anti-state activities. The case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act for actions deemed subversive during the “Moncho 71” event.