The curious case of Meghna Alam, the Bangladeshi beauty queen in jail: Former Miss Bangladesh Meghna Alam is lodged in a Dhaka jail for the past few days for allegedly damaging the country's diplomatic relations. Her case has everything for a potboiler: a 'break-in' by authorities into her home, which she livestreamed, an alleged relationship with a Saudi envoy, claims of extortion, and a government admission that it didn't handle the issue well.

Advertisment

Why is Meghna Alam in jail?

Advertisment

Bangladeshi model Meghna Alam was jailed for 30 days by the Muhammad Younus government under special powers. According to her supporters, she is being held without formal charges. 

Before her arrest, Alam did a Facebook live stream, alleging that the DB police, the specialsed Detective Branch of Bangladesh police, was breaking into her house in Dhaka to arrest her on the night of April 9.

‘Allah kept me alive for a reason’: Hasina slams Yunus, says Bangladesh has been turned into a ‘terrorist country’

Advertisment

Two days after arrest and court proceedings, Alam was sent to jail under the government's Special Powers Act.

What is Meghna Alam claiming about her 'relationship' with Saudi ambassador?

According to reports in Bangladeshi media, police said that Alam tried to extort '$5 million through coercion' from Essa Yousef, who left the country recently after serving as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh.

In a now-since-deleted Facebook post, Alam claimed: "The Saudi Ambassador to Bangladesh, Essa Yousef, is taking up people by police, fearmongering that I should not post the truth on social media."

Bangladesh launches probe after effigy resembling ex-PM Sheikh Hasina burnt in Dhaka University

According to her father and posts on social media, Meghna was allegedly engaged to Yousef and found out that he was already married.

“The ambassador and Meghna were in a relationship, and my daughter refused his marriage proposal because he already has a wife and children,” claimed Badrul Alam, the model's father, as quoted in Bangladeshi media.

Soon, Alam started speaking out publicly, including social media posts claiming she had received threats and was not safe.

Bangladesh’s fault lines: The cost of deepening defence reliance on China

Who is Meghna Alam? Ex-beauty queen of Bangladesh in controversy

Meghna Alam is a 30-year-old model, beauty queen and activist who won Miss Earth Bangladesh 2020. 

According to her Facebook profile, Meghna Alam founded the Miss Bangladesh Organization and Miss Bangladesh Foundation. Miss Bangladesh Organization selects models for beauty pageants, while her foundation engages them in social causes.

Bangladesh government admits it messed up Meghna Alam's arrest

On Sunday (Apr 13), government advisor Asif Nazrul admitted that the arrest of Alam was not done in a proper manner. “There are some allegations against her, but he arrest under the Special Powers Act was not carried out properly,” he told reporters.

India: Two Assam men arrested for producing pornography content with Bangladeshi woman

The police, for its part, claimed that she was arrested for 'falsely accusing important individuals' to threaten Bangladesh's diplomatic ties.

“These important individuals are foreign nationals,” AFP news agency quoted police spokesperson Muhammad Talebur Rahman as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)