The Chief of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Harun Or Rashid on Friday said the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas who were picked up from their house in the early hours are being questioned.
“They have not been arrested. They were brought to the DB office for questioning on some issues,” he told the media at the capital’s Minto road.
“They are still at DB office premises. Our next step in this regard will be informed after the questioning”, he said.
“We can question them if we feel it’s necessary. The situation that arose two days ago when at least 50 to 60 police members were hurt and we are questioning them about the overall issues,” said the DB Chief replying to a question.
“In Yesterday’s discussion, BNP proposed Kamalapur Stadium for December 10 rally venue but we suggested Bangla College Field as there is synthetic grass laid in the stadium for the cricket match which will get destroyed,” he said replying to another question.
Police have decided on approving Bangla College Field. But some of the BNP leaders are now talking about Golapbagh field which was not discussed at the meeting,” added DB Chief Harun.
BNP in the early hours on Friday claimed that plainclothes police picked up its Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas from their homes in separate raids in the capital city.
BNP’s Media Cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan said that a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police went to Fakhrul’s Uttara house at the dead of night and picked him up around 3:00 am.
He said another team of the DB police raided the house of Abbas at the same time and picked him up from his Shahjahanpur home in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain condemned the detention of the two top party leaders and said their party’s decision about Saturday’s rally will be announced after a virtual meeting of the standing committee that was supposed to begin at 11:30am.
Talking to reporters on Friday morning, Fakhrul’s wife Rahat Ara Begum said four DB police members came to the upstairs of their house around 3am while som others were staying downstairs.
“I asked them the reason behind their arrival here at the dead of night. They said they came here to take him (Fakhrul) away as per the directives of the higher authorities,” she said.
Rahat Ara said as she asked them whether they had any warrant for his arrest, the law enforcers said he was accused in two or three fresh cases that were filed yesterday.
“I was asleep when Abbas woke me up and said they (DB members) were going to take me with them and I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Mirza Abbas’s wife Afroza Abbas.
They said they will return him after discussion with him, she said.
Earlier on Thursday night, a BNP delegation had a six-hour meeting with the DMP commissioner where they talked about holding the rally on Saturday (December 10) either at Kamalapur Stadium or Mirpur Bangla College ground.
Later, Abbas with some BNP leaders visited the two venues.
At that meeting, police authorities assured of reopening BNP office at Nayapaltan.
On Wednesday, a Swechchasebak Dal leader was killed and around 50 others were injured in a clash between police and the BNP activists in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office ahead of its December 10 rally.
On Thursday, a Dhaka court sent 445 BNP leaders and activists to jail in two cases filed over Wednesday’s violence.
Party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam and Publication Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie were among the top leaders who were sent to jail, pending further legal procedures.
Source: United News of Bangladesh