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Bangladesh police arrested two men for critical social media posts about a new bridge that the government touted as one of its proudest feats. After a long construction period marred by delays and corruption allegations, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge was launched over the weekend in front of nearly a million people.
Its completion completes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s key infrastructure goal, and a hardline reaction to any criticism has matched her government’s fanfare and over-proposal.
According to local media reports, one man was arrested on Monday following a Facebook post expressing the desire to photograph himself urinating on the bridge.
Police confirmed to AFP that Abul Kalam Azad, an erstwhile low-level official of the opponents Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been arrested, but did not elaborate on the nature of the 42-year-online old’s remarks.
“He made a bad remark and used bad language about the bridge,” said Sadequr Rahman, police chief in Companiganj’s coastal district.
Azad did not respond immediately, but police said he deleted his post after it sparked “widespread responses” in his coastal town.
His arrest came on the same day that police detained a TikTok user for allegedly posting a short video showing that the bolts used to hold the bridge together may be easily unscrewed.
Bayazid Talha was arrested in Dhaka on Monday after his viral post.
According to a senior police officer, Talha made the video to “smear” the reputation of both the overpass and the government.
Although neither man has been officially charged with a crime, they were both scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to be resentenced into custody.
The four-mile bridge, which took nearly eight years to build, eliminates an economic choke point that required freight destined for the country’s undeveloped south and the Indian megacity of Kolkata to be transported slowly across the Padma river.
To commemorate Saturday’s opening ceremony, major roads throughout Dhaka were festooned with lights, lasers, and decorations, and millions of people have visited the bridge every day since.
