Jamaat hartal in 5 Ctg dists Wednesday

The party will observe the general strike in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban districts on Wednesday simultaneously protesting the arrest, said Ahsan Ullah, deputy chief of the party’s Chittagong city unit told The Daily Star.

The leaders and activists of the party will also stage demonstrations at thana and upazila headquarters in the port city on Tuesday, he added.       

Earlier, police arrested 21 leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami including its Chittagong city chief and former lawmaker ANM Shamsul Islam and General Secretary Nazrul Islam in the port city this afternoon.

Tipped-off, Kotwali police conducted a drive and picked up the Jamaat leaders around 5:30pm from the party office at Dewan Bazar area, said AKM Mohiuddin Selim, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station.  

He claimed that the arrestees were holding a meeting to plan sabotage in the city, he claimed adding Shamsul is accused in some 15 cases while Nazrul in about 20 cases filed with different police stations.

Police also recovered some explosive items from the party office.

Meanwhile, Jamaat tonight announced “agitation programme” across the country for Wednesday protesting abduction, killing and forced disappearance allegedly in the hand of law enforcers and arrest of opposition men including its leaders.

In a press release sent to different media outlets this evening, Jamaat acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman announced the programme.

Nature and specific venue of the “agitation programme” was not mentioned in the release.

The Islamist party, the key component in the BNP-led 19-party alliance, also announced to hold “doa-day” on Friday remembering those who were subjected to forced disappearance and killing in the hands of law enforcement agencies, added the release.