Joint forces arrest 74 in 3 dists

Joint forces picked up 74 criminals including 29 opposition men during their drives in Chittagong, Jessore and Rangpur in the wake of recent spate of countrywide violence this morning.

Forty-five of the detainees are accused in different criminal cases filed with the three districts.

Among the others, six opposition men were picked up from Jessore, 16 from Chittagong and seven from Rangpur, report our district correspondents.

CHITTAGONG

Joint forces detained 16 activists of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir from different places in Sitakunda upazila on charge of vandalism and arson on Dhaka-Chittagong highway during the recent opposition-enforced blockade, said Iftekhar Hassan, officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Police Station.

Joint forces comprising of Rapid Action Battalion, Border Guard Bangladesh and police conducted the overnight drives that ended 7:00am today, said the OC.

JESSORE

Law enforcers nabbed 51 listed criminals including six BNP and Jamaat activists during a raid in eight upazilas early today, said Reshma Sharmin, assistant superintendent of police (Sadar) in Jessore.

Police personnel conducted the drive at different houses in Sadar, Zhikorgachha, Sharsha, Chugachha, Baghabari, Manirumpur, Keshobpur and Abhaynagar upazilas from Tuesday midnight to 5:00am, the ASP said.

RANGPUR

Border Guard Bangladesh and police personnel arrested seven activists of BNP, Jamaat and Shibir during a four-hour raid till 10:00am on charge of vandalism and arson during the opposition's blockades, said Md Shahabuddin Khalifa, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station.