After Qatari terror-broadcast network Al Jazeera’s false claim of Bangladesh buying Israeli spyware, now another anti Awami-League media outlet in Dhaka has published a lengthy report on January 4, 2022 stating the Criminal Investigation Department of Bangladesh Police is using a high-tech device procured from an Israeli digital intelligence firm to “prosecute people by extracting data from their electronic devices in post-incident investigations”.
The newspaper claimed that it has “examined” the forensic reports submitted in eight cases filed between 2019 and 2020 and found that the “flagship product of Israeli firm Cellebrite called the Universal Forensic Extraction Device was used in the investigations of the cases”.
Cellebrite offers digital forensic solutions to law enforcement agencies around the world, saying that the UFED technology enables the extraction of data from locked mobile phones and identify their physical location without the owner’s consent.
The newspaper further said that two of the officials [of CID] said that the Cellebrite device was procured under a project titled ‘Enhancing the Cyber Crime Investigation Capability of Bangladesh Police’ financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency and designed by Korean cyber experts. The project was inaugurated by prime minister Sheikh Hasina on January 23, 2017, according to the CID website.
The Cellebrite devise was not purchased by Bangladesh. It has been purchased by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and South Korea and Israel has diplomatic relations. So, Bangladeshi newspaper’s claim of Israeli Cellebrite being purchased by Bangladesh is untrue. The newspaper has on purpose made foul bid of playing anti-Semitism card as the devise was helping Bangladeshi law enforcement agency in combating cyber crime by various cyber criminals and anti-state elements. It may be further mentioned that the newspaper which has published this unprolific report has past record of heavy bias towards Islamist groups and parties.
