DMP’s detention spree: Hundreds of BNP leaders, activists held in Dhaka
Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained several hundred leaders and activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from different areas in Dhaka on Wednesday night as the party announced to hold a grand rally in Dhaka Friday.
Of them, over 50 BNP leaders and activists were detained from Midway Hotel situated near the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters. DMP, however, could not inform media the actual number of arrests it made from different areas of the capital as of 12:00pm Thursday.
DB arrested former councillor of ward No 26 of Dhaka City Corporation and also Dhaka city south unit BNP’s former vice-president Mir Ashraf Ali Azam and his son barrister Mir Muntaha Ali in the small hours of Thursday, alleged Mir Ashraf Ali Azam’s wife. She further said police beaten her husband indiscriminately that time and used abusive language to her daughter-in-law.
A DMP source told Prothom Alo that the law enforcement detained 411 people, including accused and wanted in different cases, on Wednesday night.
Of the detained, 366 are BNP leaders and activists, police said.
Earlier in the day, police sent 75 BNP leaders and activists, detained on Tuesday night, to jail through court.
BNP alleged police are arresting hundreds of their leaders and activists who have come to Dhaka to join the party’s grand rally called to press home its one-point demand of resignation of the government and the restoration of the caretaker government to oversee the upcoming parliamentary election.
Police sources said a team of DMP’s Motijheel division detective branch (DB) conducted a raid for two hours at Hotel Midway at around 10:00 pm Wednesday and detained over 50 people.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on Thursday morning, DB’s Motijheel division deputy commissioner Rajib Al Masud claimed the detained people gathered at the hotel to deteriorate the law and order situation.
BNP said the detainees include Feni district BNP member secretary Alal Uddin, joint convener Eakub Nabi, district Jubo Dal vice-president Shahadat Hossain alias Selim, district Jubo Dal joint convener Daudul Islam aka Minar, district Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) organising secretary Zaker Hossain aka Riyad, Jatiyatabadi help cell’s chief coordinator Sumon Ahsan and Feni sadar upazila JCD joint convener Mesbah Uddin Miyaji, and many other leaders and activists.
A concerned official of DMP’s Mirpur division said raids were conducted in different areas of the division and made arrests. DMP’s Mirpur division deputy commissioner Md Jasim Uddin, however, could not inform Prothom Alo the number of detainees when contacted in the morning.
Quoting local sources, Prothom Alo’s Rajbari correspondent said 19 leaders and activists of Pangsha upazila BNP and its associated bodies were detained from different areas in Mirpur.
Rajbari district BNP’s former president and former MP of Rajbari-2 constituency, Nasirul Haque told Prothom Alo, “We have come to Dhaka to join a peaceful rally. Leaders and activists have arrived in Dhaka beforehand to avoid harassment and detention. But 13 of our leaders and activists have been detained from the office of Muzahidul Islam, one of our leaders.”
BNP alleged that a law enforcement team of Kotwali police station in Old Dhaka detained five leaders of Manikganj’s Gheor upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. They are Rabiul Dewan, Akash, Md Ami, Rasel Molla and Md Shahrukh.
When asked about the matter, Kotwali police station officer-in-charge Shahinur Rahman told Prothom Alo Rabiul Molla and Akash were detained when they tried to escape Babubazar police check-post in the morning.
The police official claimed they came to Dhaka to create chaos.
Family of a BNP leader, Abdul Quddus Akan, alleged that police picked him up from his residence at Lalmatia’s Block-D in Dhaka Wednesday night.
Mohammadpur police station officer-in-charge Mahfuzul Haque Bhuiyan said a few people were detained during raids in Mohammadpur area last night. He could say later whether there is any BNP leader named Abdul Quddus Akan among them.
DB arrested former councillor of ward No 26 of Dhaka City Corporation and also Dhaka city south unit BNP’s former vice-president Mir Ashraf Ali Azam and his son barrister Mir Muntaha Ali in the small hours of Thursday, alleged Mir Ashraf Ali Azam’s wife.
She further said police beaten her husband indiscriminately that time and used abusive language to her daughter-in-law.
Speaking about this, Lalbagh police station officer-in-charge Helal Uddin told Prothom Alo a team of DB’s Lalbagh division conducted a raid at the home of Mir Ashraf Ali Azam on Wednesday night. At that time, he tried to escape by jumping out of the window of 2nd floor, breaking his waist. Currently, Mir Ashraf Ali is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital under police custody.
Many of the detained BNP leaders and activists were seen being brought to court. They were chanting party slogans inside the prison vans.
BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi sent a press release to the media on Thursday morning.
According to it, police have been conducting raids at different residential hotels and other places in the capital to detain the BNP leaders and activists, who have come to Dhaka to join the party’s rally. So far over 300 arrests have been made.
Speaking to the media in front of the party’s headquarters at Naya Paltan at around 12:00pm Thursday, Dhaka north city unit BNP convener Amanullah Aman said the BNP leaders and activists are being detained from different wards of Dhaka from Tuesday night.
He further said peole have democratic right to conduct rallies and gatherings in a democratic country. "Our request to administration is not to interfere into this," Aman added.