Detectives arrested Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, chairperson of Trinamool BNP, at his home in the capital's Banani DOHS yesterday afternoon.

He was arrested in a case filed with Paltan Police Station over violence on October 28 last year, Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star.

Earlier in the day, Shamsher told this newspaper over the phone that some plainclothes men and two uniformed cops had entered his home to take him to the DMP's Detective Branch office.

On Wednesday, the former foreign secretary and his wife were allegedly barred from travelling abroad by the immigration police at the Dhaka airport. The cops did not allow the couple to board an international flight without clearance from "top-level" authorities.

Shamsher, 74, was the BNP vice-chairman, but he resigned from the party in 2015 citing health reasons.

He joined Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh in 2018 and became the chairperson of Trinamool BNP in September last year.

Trinamool BNP was registered with the Election Commission as a political party ahead of the January 7 national election.

Contesting the polls from Sylhet-6, Shamsher was defeated by Awami League candidate and former minister Nurul Islam Nahid.