Journalist Mehedi Hasan was sent to jail on Thursday afternoon in connection with an anti-terrorism case filed with Tungipara Police Station in Gopalganj.
Jahidul Islam Jahangir, Officer-in-Charge of Tungipara Police Station, confirmed it to Dhaka Tribune.
Mehedi Hasan was arrested around 3:00 am on Wednesday from his home in Gimadanga municipality area of Tungipara Upazila. He is the Tungipara correspondent for the daily Kalbela newspaper and editor and publisher of the online news portal Nobodhara.
According to the police, activists of the Awami League and banned Chhatra League brought out a torch procession at Pakurtia Bazar in Dumuria Union of Tungipara on the evening of 17 February. During the event, the protesters vandalized shops using sticks and iron rods and set fire to abandoned tyres by the roadside. Mehedi Hasan was arrested for his alleged involvement in the incident and sent to jail on Thursday afternoon.
The officer added that the tyre fire caused widespread panic in the area. When police reached the spot, the accused attacked them with bricks and stones. On 18 February, Sub-Inspector Akram Hossain of Tungipara Police Station filed a case naming 51 individuals and listing 200 others as unknown accused.
The arrest of Mehedi Hasan has raised concern among journalists working in Gopalganj district and Tungipara Upazila.
