Jamaat secy general, 8 others held

Police detained nine leaders and activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, including its Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar, who is also a former lawmaker, in Dhaka's Bashundhara residential area yesterday evening.

Police were informed that the group gathered in a flat in the area's D block Block-D to plan subversive activities. A team of law enforcers then raided the house and detained the nine men, Md Asaduzzaman, deputy commissioner of Gulshan Division Police, told The Daily Star.

The arrestees include two assistant secretary generals -- Rafiqul Islam Khan and former lawmaker Hamidur Rahman Azad -- and Islami Chhatra Shibir's former president Yeasin Arafat, police said.

The identities of the rest could not be known yet.

Meanwhile, Jamaat Amir Shafiqur Rahman in a press release protested the arrest of the leaders saying Jamaat is a democratic political party and they were arrested while attending a party programme.

He demanded unconditional release of the party leaders.