Police officers arrested Md Sajjad Hossain last Saturday from Shah Lane in the city’s Chawkbazar district. He was formally shown arrested in two separate cases the following day and remanded to judicial custody by a local court. Details of his detention surfaced on Friday, five days after his initial arrest.

Sajjad Hossain, a resident of the Goachi Bagan area under Panchlaish Police Station, operates an ambulance serving patients at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH). During the anti-discrimination student movement in July, he publicly offered free medical transit on social media for wounded protesters, personally transporting victims to emergency facilities and donating blood to those in critical condition.

Legal troubles for Sajjad began last February when Chawkbazar Police Station named him in two distinct cases. The first followed a street procession staged on 17 February by members of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League. Upon learning of his inclusion in the case, Sajjad submitted a formal appeal to the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner on 10 March, seeking an exemption and attaching documentation highlighting his humanitarian service during the July protests.

Despite his petition, police listed him as an accused in a second case following another march at Chatteswari Intersection on 25 March. Family members met with the then Officer-in-Charge, Md Jahedul Kabir, who reportedly assured them that Sajjad’s name would be dropped from the final charge sheet upon review.

Sajjad’s family alleges that a hostile local faction recently submitted a fraudulent committee document to police, falsely listing him as the Joint General Secretary of the Chawkbazar Thana Shramik League. His elder brother, Ariful Islam—a former student politician with the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal—maintained that Sajjad has never held political affiliations and is the victim of a fabricated conspiracy. Sakhawat Hossain Shipon, an organiser of the July movement, echoed these concerns, describing Sajjad as a vital ally who risked his life to rescue wounded students and condemning his arrest under anti-terrorism laws.

Addressing the arrest, Deputy Commissioner (South) of CMP Md Habibur Rahman stated that officers apprehended Sajjad Hossain as a named accused in active anti-terrorism cases, adding that he was unaware of any prior appeals submitted to the police commissioner.