Allegations of Jamaat Ameer's device being hacked using an email in the name of Bangabhaban

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has claimed that the device of its Ameer, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, was hacked through a phishing email sent from an official Bangabhaban (President's Office) address, leading to unauthorised posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

At a press conference held on Sunday morning at the party's Moghbazar office in Dhaka, Assistant Secretary General Ehsanul Mahbub Zobayer stated that hackers used the device to post derogatory content about working women from the Ameer's X account. 

The party described the incident as an attempt to defame Jamaat and its leader during the election period. 

A General Diary (GD) was filed at Hatirjheel Police Station on Saturday night, and preparations are underway to lodge a formal case.

Election steering committee member Engineer Sirajul Islam presented a timeline and evidence, explaining that the inappropriate post appeared at 4:37 pm on Saturday, while Dr. Shafiqur Rahman was addressing a live election rally in Konakhola Ground, Keraniganj—footage of which was shown to confirm he could not have made the post himself. 

The party's internal tech team noticed the issue by 4:53 pm, changed the account password at 5:09 pm, and reported the compromise from the X account at 5:22 pm. 

A related post and its Bengali translation were shared from another Jamaat leader's account in the interim.

IT expert Mahmud Alam clarified that the X account itself was not directly hacked; rather, the device on which it was logged in was compromised. 

Once detected, the active X session on the device was terminated, and the password was updated swiftly—allowing control to be regained in about half an hour, unlike typical X recoveries that can take days.

The hacking allegedly began with a phishing email received on January 23 from the government domain - assistantprogrammer@bangabhaban.gov.bd -, titled "Urgent information regarding elections." Since it appeared to come from an official source, an attachment was opened on one of the Ameer's devices, granting hackers remote access. 

Similar phishing emails were reportedly sent to other senior Jamaat leaders, including those in Dhaka Metropolitan North and South units. 

Attempts were also made to hack the Facebook account of Jamaat candidate Delwar Hossain (contesting against BNP's Secretary General in Thakurgaon-1) as early as January 12.

Sirajul Islam emphasised the timing: The offensive post was made at 4:37 pm, a screenshot circulated shortly after, but Jamaat publicly reported the hack at 5:22 pm—hours before the content went viral around midnight. 

He argued this rapid response contradicts any suggestion of internal involvement, as a fabricated post would likely have been "claimed" as hacked only after widespread backlash.

Ehsanul Mahbub Zobayer accused political opponents—pointing toward the BNP—of resorting to "heinous tactics" like hacking after failing in legitimate campaigning. 

He highlighted Jamaat's pro-women stance: Dr. Shafiqur Rahman had recently advocated for women's higher education on X that same afternoon, 43% of the party's leadership consists of women (many working professionals), and women in the Ameer's own family are employed outside the home. 

"How could someone who supports women's education and works alongside women make derogatory remarks about working women?" he questioned.

He further alleged that a certain party has earned a reputation for misogyny by attacking Jamaat's women workers, and now fears rejection by female voters—prompting efforts to tarnish Jamaat's image through such cyber incidents. 

The party plans to inform the Election Commission about the matter on the same day and demand appropriate action.