Three coordinators who created chaos in front of a publisher’s house in Dhanmondi—by inciting a mob and labeling him as an accomplice of autocracy—were detained and later released by Dhanmondi police. The trio was released into the custody of Abdul Hannan Masud, the Senior Joint Chief Coordinator of the National Citizen Committee (NCP), on Tuesday, May 20. Following the incident, the NCP issued a show-cause notice to him.

The notice was posted on the verified Facebook page of the NCP on Wednesday morning. Signed by the committee’s Joint Member Secretary, Saleh Uddin Sifat, it instructed Hannan Masud to submit a written explanation to the disciplinary committee within three days.

The three coordinators who were detained and later released are: Saiful Islam Rabbi, convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s Mohammadpur unit, who had previously been relieved of his duties on grounds of moral misconduct; Afarhan Sarkar Dinar, Senior Joint Member Secretary of the Dhaka Metropolitan unit of the same organization; and Md Ullah Jisan, who holds no official position within the organization.

They were taken into custody at Dhanmondi Police Station following the incident. On Tuesday afternoon, Hannan Masud visited the station, and after about an hour of discussions with senior police officials, the three were released into his custody.

When asked about the incident, Hannan Masud said, “I just went to check on the situation. There was a misunderstanding, which has now been resolved. Many outsiders are involved in this matter, and we are looking into it.”