Former Sirajganj MP Chayan Islam arrested in Gazipur

The three-time Awami League lawmaker had reportedly been hiding out in a flat in Sreepur for nearly two months

Chayan Islam, a former Awami League lawmaker from Sirajganj-6, has been arrested in Gazipur.

Police took him into custody from a house in the Matir Mosque area of Sreepur Upazila around 11:45pm on Sunday.

Gazipur Superintendent of Police Chowdhury Md Zaber Sadeque confirmed the arrest and said that legal action was being taken against the 61-year-old Chayan.

According to Sreepur Municipal Chhatra Dal Convenor Mamun Akon, Chayan was apprehended in a flat in a multi-storey building owned by Khairul Islam Milon in the Tepirbari Matir Mosque area. He had reportedly been staying there for nearly two months.

Mamun added that local Anti-discrimination Student Movement activists and Chhatra Dal leaders learnt about his whereabouts and informed Sreepur police. Acting on the tip-off, police raided the residence, accompanied by activists from the anti-discrimination movement. Chayan was then detained and taken to Sreepur Police Station.

Chayon was elected as an MP for the third time in the 12th parliamentary election. After the fall of the Awami League government, he went into hiding. In November, he and four others were named in an extortion case filed in court.

Sreepur Police Station chief Zainal Abedin Mandal said that further details would be provided later.