Unrelated photo circulated claiming Sarjis Alam's brother was arrested
A photo has circulated on the social media platform Facebook with the claim that the younger brother of Sarjis Alam, chief organizer (Northern region) of the Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), was arrested with a weapon in Dhanmondi. However, a fact-check by Dismislab reveals that the photo depicts a scene from June 8 when a young man named Abdur Rahman alias Rahim was detained with weapons in Noakhali.
On August 3, a photo was posted from a Facebook group named “Supporters of Bangladesh Awami League,” with one portion of the caption reading, “Militant NCP’s Sarjis Alam’s younger brother arrested with a weapon in capital’s Dhanmondi ! ! ‘Sarjis Molom’ ran to the police station ! !! He was detained with official police weapons looted during the July movement.” In the photo, a person wearing a white T-shirt is seen with a weapon tucked into his waist. Several police officers are standing around the individual. A photo of Sarjis Alam is also attached at the bottom.
The photo was posted with the same claim across multiple Facebook groups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and personal profiles.
Conducting a reverse image search to verify the authenticity of the claim led to a report published by Prothom Alo on June 8. The photo used in this report matches the circulated photo. The caption of the photo read, “Abdur Rahman alias Rahim caught with three pistols at a police checkpoint under Begumganj Police Station in Noakhali. This evening in front of Baitul Nur Jame Mosque on Gopalpur-Banglabazar road.”
The report further stated, “A young man named Abdur Rahman alias Rahim, 21, has been detained in Gopalpur Union of Begumganj Upazila in Noakhali. At this time, three foreign pistols, eight bullets, and three magazines were recovered from where they were tucked into his waist. He was detained around 6:15pm today, Monday, at a police checkpoint set up in front of Baitun Nur Jame Mosque on the Gopalpur-Banglabazar road. Police stated that the detained Rahim is the son of Jasim Uddin of Bhuiyan Bari in Basantabag village under Ward No. 8 of Gopalpur Union in the upazila. After his detention, he was taken to Begumganj Police Station. He is being interrogated regarding the recovered weapons.”
Multiple (1, 2, 3, 4) media outlets also identified the person in the photo as Abdur Rahim and mentioned the incident as taking place in Noakhali.
Furthermore, according to information available online, the name of Sarjis Alam’s younger brother is Sahadat Hosen Sakib. His identity can be found in multiple (1, 2, 3) media outlets. Additionally, he has a verified profile on Facebook.
That is to say, a photo of a different location and incident is being circulated with the claim of the arrest of Sarjis Alam’s younger brother from Dhanmondi.
