Another Freedom Party man held

Police produce former organising secretary of Freedom Party Sheikh Safiullah Sofu before a court in the city yesterday. He was arrested in connection with the attack on Awami League lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh. Photo: Star

Detective Branch of police yesterday arrested another Freedom Party leader in the city's Segunbagicha for suspected link to the Wednesday's bomb attack on Awami League lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh.
Sheikh Shafiullah Sofu, former organising secretary of Freedom Party, was picked up from his Segunbagicha residence at about 12:30pm. A Dhaka court later placed him on a three-day remand.
A total of four Freedom Party leaders have been detained so far in connection with the bomb attack.
Police on Thursday held Kamrul Haque Swapan, younger brother of Maj (retd) Shariful Haque Dalim, and Freedom Party leader and hotelier Abdur Rahim at Fakirapool in connection with the bomb attack. They had been placed on an eight-day remand.
Mehnaz Rashid, eldest daughter of Bangabandhu's self-proclaimed killer Lt Col (retd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, was arrested on Saturday for suspected link to the bomb attack.
A team of DB police led by Assistant Commissioner Mohammd Nasir Uddin is interrogating the arrestees.
Nasir said Mehnaz told the interrogators that during the tenure of the last caretaker government the then DGFI director Brig Gen (retd) Chowdhury Fazlul Bari asked her to forge a coalition between Freedom Party and National Democratic Alliance to materialise the "minus two formula".
Bari requested her to work as co-coordinator between the two parties saying he would join the alliance after retiring from service, said Mehnaz.
The then DGFI director kept regular contact with her through his men and over the cell phone, she told the DB.
Following Bari's request, she met him at a house in the capital. She later developed a relation with Bari and married him on August 12, 2007.
The two tried to create a third front before the ninth parliamentary polls but failed. Bari divorced Mehnaz in December, 2008, said AC Nasir quoting her.
Mehnaz also told interrogators that she is now living with her third husband.
When contacted over the phone, Brig Gen (retd) Bari, now staying in the USA, denied marrying Mehnaz. He declined to comment further on the issue.
Bari's brother Ashraful Bari Noman said he knew nothing about the marriage between his brother and Mehnaz.
Quoting Mehnaz, Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star that late president Ziaur Rahman asked Lt Col (retd) Rashid to return to Bangladesh from Libya and join his cabinet.
But it could not be possible due to Lt Col (retd) Syed Faruque Rahman's opposition, Mahbub quoted Mehnaz as saying.
He said ten teams of DB police are working on the case. Of them, two are interrogating the arrestees, five are on the hunt for the attackers and two are providing them with technical support.
"We suspect that the family members of Bangabandhu's killers and their cohorts were behind the bomb attack and might have plotted it in a neighbouring country," AC Nasir said.
Acting DMP Commissioner Abul Kashem said they need more time to unfold the facts.