Six people have been remanded for allegedly forging the seals and signatures of government officials, including the Prime Minister

A Dhaka court on Wednesday placed six people on seven-day remand each in a case involving the alleged forgery of seals and signatures of several senior government officials, including the Prime Minister, to create fake documents and commit fraud.

The accused are Faruk Hossain, Sakib Khan, Masum Munsi, Mir Touhidul Islam, Bakul Mondal and Rafiqul Islam.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ehsanul Islam issued the remand order after hearing a police petition seeking custody of the accused, court sources said.

Earlier, on August 7, DB-Cyber and Special Crime Division Sub-Inspector Md Samim Sardar, who is also investigating the case, sought seven days’ remand for each accused to facilitate further investigation. The court later scheduled Wednesday for the hearing in the presence of the accused.

According to the case documents, the secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment received a seven-page document inside an envelope carrying the name and logo of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The documents allegedly contained forged signatures of the Prime Minister, several ministers, the foreign affairs adviser, secretaries and other senior government officials.

After questions were raised over the authenticity of the documents, the matter was handed over to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch Cyber and Special Crime Division for investigation. Investigators subsequently found evidence suggesting that an organised group was involved in forging official documents and conducting fraudulent activities, according to the case records.

Police also seized letterheads bearing the seals and signatures of the Prime Minister’s Office, various ministries, ministers and lawmakers from the accused during the investigation.

DB Sub-Inspector Raihanur Rahman filed the case with Ramna Police Station on August 5.