Staff Reporter :
Eminent writer and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) Professor Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and his wife Dr Yesmeen Huq received death threats via two separate text messages from an unidentified person.
The text sender claimed himself as affiliated with banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
The couple received the threats while they were staying in Banani DOHS area of Dhaka around 12:15am on Thursday.
But they filed a general diary (GD) with Jalalabad Police Station in this regard after their return to Sylhet on Friday.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the police station Akter Hossain said, “The security for the couple has been increased and police remain alert to the threat.”
Dr Yesmeen Huq first received the SMS on her mobile phone, which reads, “Welcome to our new top list! your breath may stop at anytime. abt.”
Later, Dr Iqbal received another SMS on his cell phone around 2:30am from the same number saying, “hi unbeliever! We will strangulate you soon.”
Both the messages were sent from Airtel number-01629967551, according to the GD copy.
Professor Anu Muhammad and eminent litterateur Moinul Ahsan Saber also received similar threats issued from the same mobile number.
Jahangirnagar University’s Professor Anu Muhammad, who has been heading a campaign against the proposed Rampal power plant near the Sundarbans, received two death threats on his phone on Thursday.
The professor wrote on his Facebook post that he received a short message around 8:43pm, which read, “Say ‘yes’ to Rampal, otherwise you must will be hacked to death incredibly by us!”
Earlier, he received another short message around 1:00am, which read, “Death keeps no calendar, and Ansatullah knows no time!”
The number, from which he had received the threats, is the same as the one Professor Dr Zafar Iqbal mentioned in the GD, he said.
Following the incident, Anu Muhammad filed a general diary with the police, mentioning the threats on the day.
The government banned ABT on May 25 last year for their involvement in a series of attacks on secularists and war crimes trial campaigners linked to the 2013 Shahbagh movement.
After the ban, the group is renamed as Ansar Al Islam and believed to be representing AQIS in Bangladesh.
