Cox’s Bazar, Sept 22 (V7N) — A court in Cox’s Bazar has granted three days’ remand for six Chinese nationals arrested in a case involving alleged online fraud and cybercrime.

Senior Judicial Magistrate S. M. Gias Uddin passed the order on Monday after a hearing at his court. Investigators had sought five days’ remand for each of the accused.

The six suspects were brought to court from Cox’s Bazar District Jail in the morning. Following the hearing, they were taken into the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for questioning.

State prosecutor Shawkat Osman said investigators sought the remand to question the accused and analyze data recovered from digital devices seized during the investigation. The court, however, granted three days’ remand.

Defence lawyer Abdul Mannan said the investigation should establish the facts of the case and determine the actual circumstances involving the accused. He said their stated purpose for coming to Bangladesh should also be taken into consideration if they entered the country legally, and stressed that no innocent person should be subjected to harassment.

CID Inspector Abul Kalam, the investigation officer in the case, confirmed that investigators had sought five days’ remand and that the court granted three days.

According to the case documents, police arrested the six Chinese nationals from a hotel in Cox’s Bazar town on September 4. During the operation, police reportedly seized 1,938 iPhones, at least 30 laptops and various other digital devices and communication equipment.

A case was subsequently filed with Ramu Police Station on allegations of online fraud and cybercrime. The CID later took over the investigation.

Police said they had obtained information suggesting that several hundred Chinese and Taiwanese nationals had been staying at a number of hotels near Marine Drive in Cox’s Bazar and were allegedly involved in online fraud activities. The allegation is still under investigation and has not been established in court.

Investigators are examining data from mobile phones, laptops and other digital devices seized from the accused. They are expected to analyze online communications, financial transactions and other digital records to determine whether the suspects were involved in the alleged cyber offences.

The investigation is ongoing.

END/MSI/SMA/