Former minister Latif Siddique arrested

Former minister Abdul Latif Siddique has been arrested in a crimes against humanity case filed over the killings during Hefazat-e-Islam's rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka's Motijheel.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) arrested him from his residence in Gulshan at around 6:00 pm today, Wednesday, DB Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam confirmed.

“Latif Siddique has been arrested in a case filed with the International Crimes Tribunal. There was an arrest warrant against him and he was detained accordingly,” Shafiqul Islam told Prothom Alo.

Earlier in the day, Latif Siddique had expressed his intention to surrender before the court in the case. After appearing before Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jewel Rana’s court, he said he had decided to surrender.

He added that if he was not arrested beforehand, he would appear before the International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday or Monday next week and seek bail.

Latif Siddique, who was expelled from the Awami League (whose activities now banned), was previously arrested in August last year from an event at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity following the July uprising.

Later, police named him as an accused in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He was released on bail a few months later, but the case remains ongoing, and he continues to appear in court.

After his court appearance today, Latif Siddique had said, "I was informed this morning that an arrest warrant has been issued against me in the case filed at the International Crimes Tribunal regarding the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar. I knew that if I hadn't come to court today, it would be assumed that I had gone into hiding. I usually do not go into hiding. I always make a public appearance. Which is why I came to court today."

Denying his involvement in the Shapla Chattar incident, the former minister said, "I was a minister at the time. But I knew nothing about the Shapla Chattar incident or any matters from that period."

A freedom fighter, Latif Siddique was elected as a Member of Parliament five times representing the Awami League. He was appointed as a minister in 2009.

However, He resigned from the cabinet in 2014 and was expelled from the party following controversial remarks regarding Hajj.

He later became an MP as an independent candidate in the disputed 2024 election. His tenure ended when Parliament was dissolved following the fall of the Awami League government amid the student-led mass uprising that year.