DHAKA: A top Bangladeshi Sufi folk singer was arrested under a controversial internet law that critics say is used to stifle free speech after alleged anti-Islam comments triggered protests, police said Sunday.

Shariat Sarker, 40, was detained in the central town of Mirzapur on Saturday, local police chief Saidur Rahman told AFP. A cleric filed a case against Sarker over comments made at a show in December, and he was arrested under the Digital Security Act for “hurting the religious sentiment of Muslims,” Rahman said. —AFP