Police arrest hundreds ahead of BNP's rally

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested at least 366 BNP leaders and activists on Wednesday in cases filed over arson attacks and vandalism in May this year, said sources in the police.

The police also detained BNP men – who were coming to the capital to join the party's rally on Friday – in different districts including Magura, Narayanganj, Faridpur, and Kishoreganj in the last few days, said relevant sources.

At least 482 BNP men were produced before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Thursday, and all of them were sent to jail, according to sources at the court.

During a briefing on Thursday, the DMP Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq told reporters that they have been arresting only those who were accused in different cases.

Hundreds of family members of BNP activists were seen waiting in front of the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Thursday.

After 12 noon on Thursday, various police stations started bringing detained BNP leaders and activists to the court by prison vans. BNP members started chanting slogans whenever a van entered the court premises.

Mahfuza Akter, wife of a BNP activist, was seen shouting out her husband's name in front of every prison van that arrived at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court on Thursday.

She told reporters, "My husband Shafiqul Islam alias Shaheen was actively involved in the BNP years ago, but now he is a full-time pharmaceutical product trader. Last night [Wednesday] cops from Kodomtoli police station asked him to go to the police station. Later, we found that he had been arrested in an old case."

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the police raided several hotels around the Paltan area where many BNP activists were staying to join the rally on 28 July, said sources at the police and the BNP.

Razib Al Masud, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch's Motijheel Division, said they had raided Hotel Midway near BNP's central office at Naya Paltan on "specific information" and detained "over 50" opposition activists on allegation of "sabotage".

Jasim Uddin Mollah, deputy commissioner of Mirpur division, also said they have arrested a number of BNP men in several old cases.

On condition of anonymity, a senior official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told TBS that they have arrested at least 441 political activists in the last couple of days.

BNP leaders alleged different units of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested over 500 leaders and activists from different places of the city during raids conducted till the early hours of Thursday.

Asked if the police are harassing BNP men ahead of its rally, the DMP Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq said, "I am not aware of any such incident. However, if any official of DMP is involved, there will be a probe, and actions will be taken against them.

"We are only arresting those who were accused in different cases. The police arrest criminals as a part of their regular operations. Beyond that, no one else is being arrested or harassed."

BNP condemns arrest of their activists

In a statement sent to media outlets on Thursday morning, the BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi strongly condemned police actions obstructing the freedom of holding rallies as part of democratic practice ahead of the elections.

He said, "Police have arrested Mir Ashraf Ali, the former commissioner of ward-26 in Dhaka City Corporation, and his son, Barrister Muntaha Ali, last night from their house. Ashraf Ali was seriously injured and broke his legs during the arrest. He is currently receiving treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in police custody."

"In addition, Shafiqul Haque Milan, a lawyer and the relief and rehabilitation affairs secretary of BNP's central committee, Abdul Quddus Akon, assistant-organising secretary of BNP, and Anwar Hossain Ujjal, former general secretary of Rajshahi metropolitan unit of BNP, along with approximately 200 leaders and activists who came to Dhaka to attend the BNP rally scheduled on 28 July 2023, were also arrested on 26 July night in the capital by various police units," the BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General's statement read.