Ekip
09 October 2017•Update: 13 October 2017
By Mutasim Billah
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Nine people, including top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, were arrested Monday night in the capital Dhaka while they were holding a party meeting.
Party leader Ameer Maqbul Ahmed and Secretary General Shafiqur Rahman were among those arrested.
Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch (DB) Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Nazmul Alam told Anadolu Agency that they had been taken to police offices in the capital.
"We are talking to the detainees," said Alam. "We are investigating whether there is an arrest warrant against them and whether they are involved in activities against the government.”
When asked if the meeting was about anything related to sabotage, Alam said they did not find anything harmful.
“We just found some papers which contain nothing serious,” said Alam.
Local media reports such as bdnews24, however, had quoted Alam as saying the leaders of the party had been "planning to create political anarchy".
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami called for nationwide protests on Tuesday to demand the release of the detained leaders.
The statement sent to the media from the publication division of Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami says that they conform to the Bangladeshi law, constitution and conventional rules to conduct party meetings.
According to the press release, they were detained from there during a domestic meeting under the leadership of Ameer.
