Swecchasebak Dal leader’s arrest falsely circulated as Shibir leader’s detention
A video circulating on Facebook claims that a joint forces operation in Savar, Dhaka, arrested the Jamaat‑e‑Islami student wing’s central joint general secretary and former Jahangirnagar University Shibir convenor, along with two others, for possessing weapons. But a Dismislab fact-check found the claim to be false. News reports show the video is actually from a February 9 operation in Savar in which three people, including a former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activist and a central leader of the Swecchasebak Dal, were arrested.
The video was posted on February 9 from a personal Facebook profile. The 1‑minute‑38‑second clip shows army personnel searching a flat and recovering multiple pistols from a bag, a pile of rice and other hiding places. It also shows several men being taken into custody. The caption claimed: “Joint forces arrest Shibir’s central joint general secretary and former JU Shibir convenor Nahid with weapons in Savar. They turned their home into a cantonment. Say no to corruption, weapons and anti‑’71 elements.”
A reverse image search of keyframes led Dismislab to a Shorts video posted on Star News’ YouTube channel on February 9 titled: “Three, including Swecchasebak Dal central leader, arrested in Savar operation.” The visuals match the viral clip exactly.
Further searches using relevant keywords found online and video reports from several news outlets (1, 2, 3; video 1, 2). According to the daily Bangladesh Pratidin, army personnel raided a house in Savar’s Talbagh area on February 9 and recovered three foreign pistols, a large quantity of homemade weapons and ammunition, and arrested three individuals. Among them was SM Galib Imtiaz Nahid, a former leader of the Jahangirnagar University unit of JCD and central joint general secretary of the Swecchasebak Dal.
In short, the man claimed to be a Shibir leader in the viral video is actually a leader of the Swecchasebak Dal. The claim circulated with the video is false.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on February 11, 2026. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.
