Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general, 8 others held during 'secret meeting'

Police have detained nearly a dozen of senior leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the BNP, in Dhaka on charges of conspiring anti-state activities.

The detainees include Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, assistant secretaries general Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan and former lawmaker Maulana Hamidur Rahman Azad, Central Executive Committee members Abdur Rob, Ijjot Ullah and Mobarak Hossain, and former president of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir Yasir Arafat.

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They were apprehended during a raid at a house in Bashundhara Residential Area of Dhaka around 5:30pm on Monday, Deputy Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP) Gulshan division told Dhaka Tribune.

They had met in secret to plot sedition and destabilize the country, he told media.

Meanwhile, demanding their immediate release, Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman claimed the nine had actually convened to chalk out plans for helping the general public amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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The detentions follow Jamaat ally BNP's recent initiatives to wage a strong anti-government movement ahead of the 2023 general elections.

On Monday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they were organizing the party to wage a movement to remove the "dictatorial-fascist Awami government".

On Saturday, Fakhrul hoped that party chief Khaleda Zia would again lead the BNP after her complete release from jail. He also urged the party leaders and activists to restore democracy by ousting the current "fascist regime" through a movement.