An out-of-tune Bangladeshi singer with a huge internet following was hauled in by police at dawn and told to cease his painful renditions of classical songs, sparking a furore on social media.

“Hero” Alom, as he styles himself, has amassed nearly two million Facebook followers and almost 1.5 million on YouTube with his unique crooning style and arresting, raunchy videos.

One of his numbers, Arabian Song, in which he appears in traditional Arab clothing on a sand dune with camels superimposed in the background, has garnered 17 million views.

But he has also drawn critics’ scorn, particularly for versions of classic songs of two beloved national treasures — Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Bangladesh’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

On Wednesday Alom told AFP that he was “mentally tortured” last week by police who told him to stop performing classical songs, that he was too ugly to be a singer, and to sign an “apology” bond.

“The police picked me up at 6am and kept me there for eight hours. They asked me why I sing Rabindra and Nazrul songs,” he said.

Dhaka’s chief detective Harun ur Rashid told reporters that Alom had apologised for singing the cherished songs and for wearing police uniforms without permission in his videos.

“We received many complaints against him,” Harun said.

“(He) totally changed the (traditional) style (of singing)… He assured us that he won’t repeat this,” Harun added.

Farook Hossain, deputy police commissioner of Dhaka, rejected claims by Alom, 37, that he had also been pressed to change his name.

“He is making these comments just to go viral in social media,” he told AFP.

Following his ordeal, Alam released a new video depicting himself behind bars in a prison outfit, warbling mournfully that he is about to be hanged.

Alom’s treatment triggered outrage on social media, with commentators and activists calling it an attack on individual rights — even if his singing grates.

“I am not a fan of your songs or your acting. But if there is an attempt to muzzle your voice, I stand up against it,” journalist Aditya Arafat posted.

“Don’t be broken. You are a hero. No matter what others say, you are a real hero,” Sanjida Khatun Rakhi wrote on Alom’s Facebook page.

Alom says he has acted in several films and also participated in Bangladesh’s parliamentary election in 2018 as an independent candidate — garnering 638 votes.

He told AFP at his Dhaka studio that he started using the moniker “Hero” after becoming popular in his home district of Bogra, 150 kilometres (95 miles) north of Dhaka.

“I felt like I am a hero. So I took the name Hero Alom. I won’t drop this name no matter what,” he said.

“At present, it seems you can’t even sing with freedom in Bangladesh.”

At least 13 people have been killed and 35 injured when a fire broke out at a nightclub in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province.

The cause of the fire early on Friday is still unknown and all victims so far have been identified as Thai nationals, police said.

A separate statement from the Chonburi emergency service described 14 of the injuries as severe.

The fire at the Mountain B nightclub, about 180 kilometres southeast of the capital Bangkok, started at about 1am local time, Wuttipong Somjai, a superintendent at a local police station, told Reuters by phone.

Local TV footage showed people fleeing the fire and emergency workers putting out flames and looking through the burnt-out premises, with shoes and bottles strewn across the ground.

A witness who went by the name Nana told local TV she was with five friends when the fire broke out at the venue.

“I saw flames above the stage, on the right side. I think it was about the same time at the singer on stage saw it too and he shouted ‘fire!’ and threw the mic at it,” she told broadcaster PPTV. “I saw a lot of the pub’s bouncers covered in fire inside.”

The incident comes 13 years after pyrotechnics started a blaze at a New Year’s party at the crowded Santika night club in Bangkok, killing 66 people.

Investigations into that fire found several key breaches at the club, official corruption and revealed lax attitudes towards safety at entertainment venues at the time.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday assured victims’ families they would receive help from authorities and urged entertainment venues nationwide to ensure they have proper emergency exits and safety measures in place.