Three held for spreading wrong information about capital market on social media
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Three people involved in spreading wrong information about the country’s capital market using social media platforms have been arrested by the special branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Chief of DMP’s Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid disclosed the information on Saturday at a press briefing in the DMP media centre.
An officer of the country’s stock market watchdog filed a case on Thursday (April 25) against at least 10 people involved in the crime.
After receiving the complaint, the cyber and special crime division of DMP (South) started to work on the matter.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Md Saifur Rahman Azad of cyber and special crime division of DMP (south) led the operation and arrested three people on Friday night.
Md Amir Hossain aka Nur Nurani (37), Nurul Haque Harun (52) and Abdul Kaium (39) were arrested in the operation.
Arrestee Md Amir Hossain aka Nur Nurani (37) has 8–10 secret groups and huge online followers; he also has 11 prior cases against him.
Another arrestee, Nurul Haque Harun (52) holds the position of vice president of the small capital market investors' group 'Puji Bazaar Biniog Kari Oikko Porishod.'
He has been found to be involved in many cases of extortion with listed companies.
Abdul Kaium (39) is associated with brokerage house Royal Capital; he used to sell price-sensitive information using social media secret groups.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Md Saifur Rahman Azad told the FE, “We asked for 5 days of remand for the arrestees. Already, they have confessed their connections to the crimes. They have also disclosed the names of some people who are involved in these. We believe we will be able to take action against them soon.”
Speaking at the press conference, Chief of DMP’s Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid said, “The stock market is a very sensitive place. It is closely related to the country’s economy. Small investors may lose their money if any misinformation is spread about the capital market. We found that the arrestees were using various secret Facebook, Telegram, and Whatsapp groups to spread incorrect and misleading information about the country's stock market.”
“By using those secret groups, they disclosed incorrect price-sensitive information regarding various stock market entities; they also triggered various movements to create instabilities in the capital market. Misinformation against the chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission was spread as well," he said.
“The arrestees were also found involved in extortion with listed companies. They also used their secret groups for manipulating share prices. The DMP cyber and special crime division will continue its investigation and monitoring to prevent any attempt to destabilise the capital market," Harun-or-Rashid added.
Mohammad Rezaul Karim, spokesperson and executive director of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) told the FE, “Recently, BSEC found that some price manipulative behaviour prompted the fall of the DSE index, and we also found some people are using social media platforms to destabilise the capital market. So, we filed a case under the Cyber Security Act at Ramna police station. Police arrested three people involved in the crime on April 26.”