Suspension followed by a case over alleged blackmail
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami suspended the membership of Mohammad Shahidullah, 46, at an emergency meeting in Mymensingh on November 2, 2026, after an intimate video circulated online. The dispute later reached court, with Shahidullah alleging that people had demanded 30,000 taka before publishing the material.
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Shahidullah filed a case on November 5 under several provisions of the Pornography Control Act, 2012, according to details reported about the filing. He had earlier submitted a written complaint to Mymensingh Kotwali Model Police Station. Sub-Inspector Golam Rabbani confirmed receiving a complaint and said police were investigating.
The controversy involves competing descriptions of the material. Shahidullah said in interviews that the footage showed a private moment with his wife and might have been taken from his mobile phone. His written complaint alleged that unidentified people used artificial intelligence to edit photographs of the couple into images and video intended to damage their family.
Mymensingh Metropolitan Jamaat chief Kamrul Ahsan Emrul confirmed the temporary suspension of Shahidullah's rukn status, a category of party membership. He said the party regarded the matter as moral misconduct. Shahidullah belonged to the Naya Bazar organisational thana unit and worked as an office assistant at Al Arabia Dakhil Madrasa in the city's Nawmahal area.
The dispute also spread into local election campaigning. A Facebook post connected Shahidullah to Jamaat mayoral candidate Shahidullah Kaiser, who said political opponents were using a photograph from a campaign event to draw him into the controversy.
How the video spread on November 2
The material began circulating on social media on Monday morning, November 2. Video was shared on Telegram, while screenshots and related material appeared on Facebook. By noon, a post in the Facebook group Gen-Z Mymensingh had attached an allegation about the identity of the woman shown.
The post claimed she was the wife of a man living abroad. Shahidullah instead identified her as his own wife. The identity claim became part of the public controversy alongside the circulation of the intimate material.
Local discussion and criticism prompted the metropolitan Jamaat committee to convene that evening. Party leaders spoke to Shahidullah before deciding to suspend his membership temporarily. He continued to dispute the circumstances in which the material had been created or obtained and then shared.
What Shahidullah said about the footage
Shahidullah's public explanation focused on a private recording and possible access to his phone. Speaking on the night the video circulated, he said he could not explain how it had reached social media.
Shahidullah, the suspended Jamaat member and madrasa office assistant, described the footage this way:
The video was recorded with my wife. I cannot say how it spread on social media. Someone unidentified may have spread it from my mobile phone out of enmity.
His written complaint gave a different account of how the images and video were made. It alleged that unidentified people collected photographs of him and his wife and used artificial intelligence, or AI, to edit them into material intended to harm and defame the family.
AI tools can alter photographs or generate moving images from existing pictures. In this case, the allegation concerns whether the circulating material was manipulated, while Shahidullah's interview comments concern a private recording taken from his phone. The authenticity of the material, how it left his control and who distributed it remain unresolved; police have not announced a technical finding.
Kamrul Ahsan Emrul said Shahidullah had also been unable to tell party leaders whether his phone was hacked or whether the footage spread through another route.
A demand for 30,000 taka
Shahidullah alleged that the circulation followed threats to expose the video unless he paid money. The amount was later specified as 30,000 taka, adding a concrete extortion allegation to the dispute over the footage.
According to his later account, two former students of Al Arabia Dakhil Madrasa, Burhan Sultan Mughd and Rakib, approached him about resolving the matter and demanded the money. He said he first informed Mughd's father and alleged that Mughd then became angry and verbally abused him.
Shahidullah further alleged that people involved in the blackmail released the video after becoming angry about a police inquiry. His account places the demand for money before the widespread circulation on November 2.
The alleged sequence matters to the investigation: police are examining a complaint about obtaining and distributing private material, while the later court case also concerns alleged pressure to pay. Blackmail means using a threat, such as exposing private information, to force someone to hand over money or do something.
From a police complaint to a court filing
A later account dates Shahidullah's initial written complaint to October 27, six days before the video spread widely. It says the complaint was sent to Mymensingh Sadar No. 3 police outpost and that Sub-Inspector Golam Rabbani was assigned to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
Rabbani confirmed that Shahidullah had identified a student as someone he suspected of involvement in spreading the video. The officer said police were investigating the matter.
The reported sequence runs from the initial complaint to a court case nine days later:
- October 27, 2026: Shahidullah submitted a written complaint at Mymensingh Kotwali Model Police Station, according to the later account of the case.
- November 2, morning and noon: The video and images circulated online, including material posted in Gen-Z Mymensingh.
- November 2, evening: Metropolitan Jamaat leaders held an emergency meeting and temporarily suspended his membership.
- November 5: Shahidullah filed a case at Mymensingh's No. 1 Amli Court under the Pornography Control Act, 2012.
The court filing reportedly cited sections 8(1), 8(2), 8(3), 8(5) and 8(7) of the law. Earlier statements from Shahidullah and party leaders had described preparations for a case under cyber legislation; the later filing was identified as a case under the Pornography Control Act.
The named defendants reportedly include Burhan Sultan Mughd, Rakib, Billal Hossain Manik, Khalilur Rahman, Anwar Hossain Manju and Hridoy Khan Risan, alongside unidentified people. Shahidullah specifically accused Manik of circulating a related photo card and video on November 2. No response from the named defendants or date for a next hearing has been announced.
Party membership and employment affected
Kamrul Ahsan Emrul said the metropolitan committee considered Shahidullah's explanation but still decided on a temporary suspension. The action concerned his rukn membership in Jamaat's Naya Bazar unit.
Emrul, the metropolitan Jamaat chief, explained the disciplinary decision:
For now, his rukn status has been suspended. The action was taken considering it a matter of moral misconduct.
Al Arabia Dakhil Madrasa also reportedly suspended Shahidullah temporarily. The controversy therefore affected both his political membership and his job as an office assistant.
A message editor in metropolitan Jamaat's media department expressed two positions: recording intimate moments was contrary to the party's religious understanding, while publishing private footage or threatening publication to obtain money was a serious criminal offence. The official called for an investigation to identify those responsible and bring them before the law.
Jamaat's response consequently included discipline against Shahidullah and a call for action against anyone responsible for the alleged exposure and extortion. The party described its membership decision as temporary.
A campaign photograph draws in the mayoral candidate
Shahidullah Kaiser, the metropolitan Jamaat secretary and the party's candidate campaigning for mayor of Mymensingh City Corporation, was drawn into the dispute through a photograph from election outreach.
The Facebook post that circulated the intimate material also claimed Shahidullah had been close to Kaiser during campaigning. Kaiser responded that people from different areas and political parties attended his public events.
Kaiser, speaking about the campaign photograph and his possible contact with Shahidullah, said:
That person may have been at one of the public outreach events. An opposing group is using a photograph from that time to run a campaign involving me on social media.
His response framed the photograph as an image from a public gathering. Kaiser accused an opposing group of using it to associate him with the controversy, but did not identify that group.
The campaign dispute widened the consequences beyond Shahidullah's membership and employment. A private video, an allegation about the woman shown and a separate photograph from political outreach were brought together in the same online discussion.
Key Points
- Jamaat temporarily suspended Mohammad Shahidullah's membership on November 2, 2026, after intimate material circulated online.
- Shahidullah described a private recording with his wife, while his written complaint alleged that AI was used to create or edit images and video.
- He alleged a demand for 30,000 taka and filed a court case on November 5 under the Pornography Control Act, 2012.
- Police confirmed receiving a complaint and said they were investigating.
- Al Arabia Dakhil Madrasa also reportedly suspended him temporarily.
- Mayoral candidate Shahidullah Kaiser accused opponents of using a campaign photograph to draw him into the dispute.
