BNP chief Khaleda Zia calls meeting of senior party leaders

Amid journalist Shafik Rehman’s arrest in a case over conspiracy to abduct prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has convened a meeting of senior party leaders.

The meeting is scheduled for 9pm on Tuesday at Khaleda’s Gulshan office, said BNP’s Assistant Officer Secretary Shamimur Rahman Shamim.

“The meeting has been called to discuss the present political scenario, journalist Shafik Rehman’s arrest and ongoing the Union Parishad polls among other issues,” he told bdnews24.com.

In 2015, a court in New York convicted US BNP leader’s son Rizvi Ahmed Ceaser for bribing a former FBI official to get information for harming a 'prominent' Bangladesh national.

The court documents initially did not mention a name, but the full verdict described the victim as 'son of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and an advisor to the Prime Minister on information technology.'

It said that Caesar admitted that he intended to 'scare,' 'kidnap' and 'hurt' Joy.

The court of the Southern District of New York also said in its verdict that Ceaser gave the information to a 'journalist in Bangladesh' and 'obtained in return approximately $30,000.'

In May 2015, police in Dhaka initiated a case over the plot against Ceaser’s father Mohammad Ullah Mamun.

Journalist Shafik Rehman was arrested in that case and police have been granted a five-day remand to quiz him.

Police have also pleaded to a Dhaka court to show Amar Desh Acting Editor Mahmudur Rahman arrested in the case and sought custody to question him. He is already in jail in a number of cases over violence.

The BNP describes Shafik Rehman arrest as a part of the government’s “heinous strategy" while prime minister’s son Joy claims that the US justice department has provided evidences of his link with the ploy.