BNP leader Syed Emran Saleh ‘picked up by DB police’
The police have allegedly detained Syed Emran Saleh Prince, organising secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), from a residence in the capital's Badda area.
Shairul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP chairperson's press wing, confirmed that he was detained around 7:30 pm on Saturday.
Citing family members, Shairul Kabir said, "Some people, identifying as Detective Branch (DB) of police, picked him up from his sister's residence in the Badda area."
However, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) claimed to be unaware of his detention.
Faruk Hossain, deputy commissioner (media and public relations) of DMP, told Prothom Alo, "We do not have any information regarding the detention of BNP leader Syed Emran Saleh Prince."
Earlier, Anwaruzzaman, joint convener of Dhaka City (North) BNP, and Nazmul Ahsan, vice president of the party's student wing Chhatra Dal, were picked up by the DB men in a similar fashion on Friday night.
The EC is taking preparations in full-swing to hold the election in time. It held a dialogue with the registered political parties over the election situation on Saturday, when the BNP leaders are mostly languishing in jail
The detentions came when Bangladesh is scheduled to hold the next national election either at the end of December this year or at the beginning of January next year.
The ruling Awami League is hell-bent on holding the election under the current government, while the opposing BNP remains steadfast in its demand for an election-time caretaker government.
Now, the BNP, along with other like-minded entities, has been on an all-out movement to press home their demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the reinstatement of a neutral poll-time government.
In the face of a police attack at their grand rally at Naya Paltan on 28 October, the party called a one-day hartal and subsequent three-day blockade. Later, they called another 48-hour blockade across the country starting from Sunday.
Meantime, the police have arrested a large number of the senior BNP leaders, including secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and some other standing committee members, and sent them to jail through the court.
On the other hand, the election commission (EC) is taking preparations in full-swing to hold the election in time. It held a dialogue with the registered political parties over the election situation on Saturday, when the BNP leaders are mostly languishing in jail.