Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday said the act of accusing senior journalist Shafik Rehman in a criminal case and sending him to police custody for interrogation was ‘inhuman.’

Talking to reporters after visiting Shaifk Rehamn’s Eskaton Garden residence Dhaka, he demanded that the journalist be released immediately revoking his remand in custody.

Fakhrul along with the party’s vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman and chairperson’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo went to Rehman’s house at about 2:00pm and talked to his wife Taleya Rehman.

‘False charges are being brought against those who oppose the government and hold divergent views. They are being harassed and arrested in one way or the other. It can’t be accepted putting a veteran journalist like Shafik Rehman on remand,’ he said.

The BNP leader alleged that the government arrested him as he used to write against unjust and misdeeds of the government.

He urged the government to ensure justice for Shafik Rehman.

On Saturday morning, detectives arrested journalist Shafik Rehman, former editor of the Bangla daily Jaijaidin, from his house. He was later put on a five-day remand in a case filed in connection with a plot to ‘abduct and kill’ prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s son and her ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy.