Sangram editor held

Abul Asad

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday arrested Dainik Sangram Editor Abul Asad for his alleged connection with Monday's clash between law enforcers and Jamaat-e-Islami men in Dhaka and elsewhere.
Lt Col Rafiqul Islam, commanding officer of Rab-3, told The Daily Star that they arrested him from his Moghbazar residence in the capital on charges of “patronising the violence.”
He said that they have other intelligence on him, but declined to specify.
On Monday, several hundred Jamaat activists fought pitched battles with police in the capital, leaving at least 100 people injured and halting traffic for hours. The clash erupted after the law enforcers obstructed a Jamaat rally demanding release of their top leaders who are behind bars on war crimes charges.
Police said they arrested around 450 leaders and activists of Jamaat and Shibir, which is Jamaat's student wing, from across the country in this connection. In Dhaka, 261 Jamaat men including acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam and Publicity Secretary Tasneem Alam were detained.
During the clashes, the Jamaat men set fire to at least 28 vehicles, smashed around 200 others and vandalised dozens of roadside shops, police said.
Sporadic clashes took place also in other parts of the country.
Following the incident, at least 20 cases were filed, including nine in capital's Ramna and Paltan Police Stations, accusing several thousand Jamaat men for torching and damaging vehicles, destroying public properties and attacking policemen.
Monirul Islam, deputy police commissioner of Detective Branch (south division), told journalists yesterday that Jamaat-Shibir men were trying to create instability in the country to obstruct the war crimes trial.
Meanwhile, the Jamaat-Shibir men arrested in Dhaka were placed on remand for 19 days in four cases filed by Ramna and Paltan police against some 2,500 to 3,000 Jamaat men.
Paltan police were granted 10 days for questioning 183 of the 261 arrestees in two cases while Ramna police were given nine days to grill 168 in two other cases.
A number of detainees were shown arrested by both Ramna and Paltan police.
Five cases were filed with Ramna Police Station by the owners of five damaged vehicles.
Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in separate statements condemned the arrest of Abul Asad and demanded his immediate release.
Leaders of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists also protested Asad's arrest. They also held a rally at Jatiya Press Club demanding his release.
Also yesterday, Home Minister Sahara Khatun said the Jamaat-Shibir men injured 40 policemen. She added that the Jamaat activists were trying to create anarchy in the country.
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif alleged the main opposition BNP was involved in the attack on law enforcers.
“Khaleda Zia did not denounce the attack on police. She rather protested the police obstruction of Jamaat procession, which proves that the party was involved in the violence,” Hanif told a rally at Bangabandhu Avenue.
Jamaat's Assistant Publicity Secretary Matiur Rahman Akond claimed more than 700 leaders and activists were arrested from across the country in the last two days.
Our district correspondents reported 11 arrests in Rajshahi, two in Chapainawabganj, 10 in Mymensingh, 10 in Narsingdi, 12 in Maulvibazar and 10 in Netrokona.
UNB reports: 23 Jamaat-Shibir men were arrested in Chittagong, seven in Rajbari, five in Sherpur, five in Narayanganj, four in Bogra, 16 in Noakhali, four in Brahmanbaria, five in Meherpur, four in Khulna and eight in Kurigram.
Chittagong police filed a case accusing around 3,000 Jamaat-Shibir leaders and workers for vandalism and attack on police, UNB adds.