A local leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party was killed allegedly in a bomb attack in Bagerhat's Rampal upazila yesterday, police said.

The dead is Khaza Mainuddin Akhter, 52. He was the organising secretary of Rampal upazila unit BNP.

“A group of unidentified miscreants, riding on a motorcycle, hurled a bomb on Mainuddin from behind around 7:30pm in a lane inside Bhoroshapur Bazar,” said Pankaj Chandra Roy, superintendent of police in Bagerhat, adding that they fled the scene immediately after the attack.

Locals rushed him to Khulna Medical College Hospital where duty doctors pronounced him dead, the SP said, adding that the situation of the area was under control and extra forces were deployed.

“No one has been arrested in this connection and police are yet to find any clue to the murder,” he also said.

The type of the bomb could not be confirmed, however, the eyewitnesses said it was a locally made crude bomb.

Talking to The Daily Star, President of Rampal upazila BNP Hafizur Rahman Tuhin demanded immediate arrest of the attackers.

Rab yesterday confirmed that it arrested BNP leader Anisur Rahman Talukder Khokon over allegations of plotting subversive activities around 20 hours after he went missing in the capital's Gulistan area.

“We have arrested him [Khokon] on information that he was involved in plotting subversive activities,” Lt Col Emranul Hasan, commanding officer (CO) of Rab-3, told this newspaper yesterday evening.

He, however, didn't say what type of subversive activities Khokon, mass education affairs assistant secretary of the BNP, was allegedly plotting.

Rab later handed him over to Ramna Police Station. He was shown arrested in a case filed last year over plotting subversive activities, said Sub-inspector Mizanur Rahman of the police station, also investigation officer of the case.

Talking to this correspondent, Khokon's wife Shah Israt Azmery said members of the elite force picked up her husband on a vehicle with a Rab-3 sticker from in front of Ramna Hotel around 10:45pm. He went there to meet some local BNP leaders from Madaripur.

She also said a team of Rab-2 came to their Lalmatia house around 12:45pm yesterday and took away her husband's passport.

However, Lt Col Anwaruzzaman, commanding officer of Rab-2, said he was not aware of it.

When this correspondent visited Khokon's house in the afternoon, the security guard at the building, Ayub Ali, said around eight to 10 people, including three to four in Rab uniform, came to the house around 12:45pm.

“They were looking for his [Khokon's] wife,” he added.

As Khokon's wife Azmery was not home at that time, they waited for her.

Azmery said when she returned home around 1:00pm, she saw a vehicle with Rab-2 sticker parked on the road near their apartment building.

“They wanted my husband's passport. When we asked the reason, they said they need to collect information.”

She further said they told her that Khokon was in their custody but didn't give any details.

“It's a big relief for us that we now know his whereabouts,” she added.

Seeking anonymity, one of Khokon's relatives alleged that the Rab men, who went to his house, asked the family members not to tell the media that they took away his passport.

“They wanted us to give a written undertaking that the family members themselves handed over the passport to the Rab.”

When the family members wanted the same from the Rab men, one of them talked to someone over the phone. The Rab men then said they didn't need any undertaking and took away Khokon's passport, said the relative of the BNP leader.

Earlier in March 2015, Khokon, a former organising secretary of Chhatra Dal's central unit, went missing in the capital.

Around three months later, he was found in Faridpur.

At that time, the Rab claimed that it had arrested Khokon along with two others in front of a restaurant on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Faridpur Sadar upazila.

Khokon's family, however, alleged that Rab members had picked him up from his house in the capital on March 5 that year -- an allegation refuted by the elite force.

As part of its ongoing protest programmes, the BNP has decided to hold a rally in the capital on February 22, demanding release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The rally will be held either at Suhrawardy Udyan or in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP senior joint secretary general, announced while addressing a press briefing at the party's headquarters.

The BNP leader said they had already sought permission from the authorities concerned for holding the programme.

Rizvi also said the party's countrywide mass signature campaign demanding the release of Khaleda would formally begin at the central office at 11:00am today.

He claimed that more than 4,650 BNP activists had been arrested across the country since January 30.

On Thursday, the BNP declared fresh agitation programmes, including submitting memorandums to all deputy commissioners on Sunday and staging demonstrations in all district towns and metropolitan cities, except Dhaka, on Tuesday.

On February 8, Khaleda was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case by a special court in Dhaka. She was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the case.

Soon after her conviction, the BNP announced countrywide demonstrations on February 9 and 10. Later, it staged protests from Monday to Wednesday.

Law Minister Anisul Huq today said that he will not withdraw his statement about a lower court judge being influenced in acquitting BNP leader Tarique Rahman in a money laundering case.

He will elaborate it at a press conference on Tuesday, he told journalists in his reply to a question.

The law minister said this when he went to visit the condition of a building of chief prosecutor's office of International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka this afternoon.

Anisul Huq on July 21 said Tarique got acquitted in the case at the trial court by influencing its judge.

The judge (Motahar Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-3) along with his family members left for Malaysia a few days after he delivered the judgment, acquitting Tarique in November 2013, said Anisul.

The minister also said the government issued a notice asking him to get back to work, but he didn't respond.

Earlier in the day, Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum demanded the law minister to withdraw his statement.

A leader of the pro-BNP lawyers platform today strongly protested the law minister’s comment saying that the judge Motahar Hossain did not go abroad immediately after acquitting Tarique.

Judge Motahar Hossain had discharged his judicial duties for around one and a half month after delivering the judgement on Tarique in the money laundering case.

Then he went to retirement and later went to Malaysia, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, secretary of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, said at a press conference at the Supreme Court Bar Association auditorium in Dhaka.

He said the law ministry appointed Motahar Hossain as a judge.

"Tarique, BNP Senior Vice Chairman, has been staying in London, how could he influence the judge? It is not comprehensible and credible to the nation," Khokon said.

He demanded the authorities concerned to withdraw all what he termed as false cases filed against Tarique.

Lower court judge Motahar Hossain had acquitted Tarique in the money laundering case as allegation against him was not proved.

The BNP leader announced a programme of holding demonstration and human chain at all bar association premises across the country from July 25 to 28 demanding withdrawal of cases against Tarique.

Tarique Rahman was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and fined Tk 20 crore by the High Court on July 21 in the money laundering case which may have an enormous impact on his political career.

The HC overturned a lower court verdict that acquitted Tarique in the money laundering case involving Tk 20.41 crore.

BNP Vice-chairman Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed was granted bail yesterday, a day after his arrest under the Digital Security Act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqul Islam passed the order, rejecting a seven-day remand prayer of police.  

Rab arrested Hafiz at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport when he arrived from Singapore on Saturday.

He was accused of being involved in the “sending of false, misleading, fabricated, and ill-motivated information about intelligence and law enforcement agencies via email”.

Rab handed him over to police, said Nazrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Pallabi Police Station. 

Sub-inspector Abu Saied of Rab-4 filed the case accusing Hafiz and Col (retd) Ishaq Mian, the BNP chairperson’s chief security officer.

Col Ishaq was arrested the same day and placed on a seven-day remand. 

In the case statement filed with Pallabi police, SI Abu Saied said Col Ishaq sent an email to one Hiren Mukharjee on May 2, in which he gave “false, misleading, fabricated, and ill-motivated information” on the role of law enforcers, administration, and intelligence agencies in the December 30 national election. It said the image of the country was tarnished. 

It was also stated that his activities were part of an ill-attempt to destablise the country by creating chaos in the armed forces.

During interrogation, Col Ishaq told Rab that Maj Hafiz, one barrister M Sarwar Hossain and some unnamed people were involved, according to the case statement.  

Yesterday, Sub-inspector Nure Alam of Pallabi Police Station, also investigation officer of the case, produced Maj Hafiz before the court and sought a seven-day remand.

In the remand prayer, the officer said Maj Hafiz should be interrogated to know the whereabouts of accused on the run. 

The court rejected the prayer after defence lawyers argued for bail and said their client was not involved in the incident.