Joint forces arrest 56 opposition men in 3 dists

Joint forces arrested at least 56 opposition men including four women during their drives in Feni, Bogra and Lalmonirhat districts in the wake of recent spate of countrywide violence early today.

Of the arrestees, 34 activists of BNP-led 18-party opposition combine men were held in Feni while 13 in Bogra and nine in Lalmonirhat, our district correspondents report.

The four women who were involved in the politics of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, were arrested from Lalmonirhat.

FENI

Joint forces, comprising Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police personnel, conducted drives at different residences in Pathanbari and Fazilpur areas in Feni Sadar Upazila and made the arrest.

The forces conducted the raid for nearly four hours from 12midnight, our correspondent reports quoting Md Saiful Haque, additional superintendent of police in Feni.

The 34 supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, were rounded up on charges of creating violence in the areas during the recent hartal and blockade, the police official added.

BOGRA

Rab, BGB and police personnel arrested 13 opposition alliance men at Palsha, Voberbazar, Matidali, Sabgram in Bogra town and different upazilas of the district.

Of the detainees, two are Shibir men; two Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, youth body of BNP; and one of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of main opposition BNP, said Gaziur Rahman, additional superintendent of police of Sadar circle. Five more opposition men were arrested at different upazilas, he added.

In another drive around 10:30am, the joint forces arrested three blockaders after they exploded three crude bombs on Station Road in Bogra town.

LALMONIRHAT

The joint force nabbed nine criminals including four women in a special drive at Kafirbazar in Patgram upazila.

The law enforcers conducted the drive between 12:30am to 5:00am today, said Mahfuzul Islam, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) in Lalmonirhat.

The arrestees are local people and involved with the Jamaat-Shibir politics, Sohrab Hossain, officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station, said quoting locals.

The joint forces will continue their drive at identified areas in the district to detain the people who are suspected to be involved in the recent violence and rail sabotage, said the ASP.

The identities of the detainees were not known immediately.