Call Records of Sheikh Hasina Cleared on August 5

Nearly 1,000 call records, including data from four mobile phones belonging to ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were deleted in the wake of the recent mass uprising.

“Initially, four numbers have been identified as belonging to Sheikh Hasina. Efforts are underway to recover the deleted digital evidence from these numbers,” said Tanvir Joha, Special Investigation Officer of the International Crimes Tribunal, on Monday, September 29.

He explained that on August 5 last year, when Sheikh Hasina took refuge in New Delhi, the deletion of her call records was carried out under the direction of the then-Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC), Ziaul Ahsan. Prior to that, Hasina had issued “thousands of directives” during the July protests in Dhaka.

“On the evening of August 5, around 1,000 call records, along with ownership data of Sheikh Hasina’s four numbers, were erased from the NTMC server. However, attempts are underway to retrieve them,” Joha revealed. He added that call records linked to former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun and a former planning minister were also deleted.

Calling the erasure “unprecedented,” Joha said: “I am not directly stating the number here. But the incident occurred at NTMC. While investigating why the internet was shut down during the protests, we came across startling information. We found NTMC’s involvement in the deletion. According to our findings, under Ziaul Ahsan’s orders, some contractual NTMC officials deleted the digital evidence.”

He further disclosed that the deletion was executed by an individual appointed through open-source recruitment, following the directives of the then-NTMC Director General.

It is noteworthy that Ziaul Ahsan, who had long been regarded as a highly influential figure during Sheikh Hasina’s government, was relieved of his duties the day after her fall from power.