Coco, Khaleda's other son, arrested

Joint forces early Monday arrested Arafat Rahman, nicknamed Coco, the youngest son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the country's police chief said.

"Yes, he's been arrested," IGP Noor Mohammad told bdnews24.com at 2:45am.

Answering queries from staff correspondent Anika Farzana, the inspector general, however, did not give further details.

Sources close to the overnight raid said Arafat was arrested at his mother's Cantonment home shortly before 1am Monday and kept seated in a car for some time.

A caretaker of the house told bdnews24.com senior correspondent Sumon Mahmood that Arafat had been sped away at around 1.15am.

"They (joint forces) entered the compound apparently to conduct a search," the caretaker said.

They had arrived at around midnight and positioned themselves in front of the Khaleda's residence.

Arafat, who runs a string of businesses including river transport company Rahman Navigations and advertising firm Advance Ad, had been in virtual house arrest for the past one month, according to Sumon Mahmood.

Allegations have it that Advance Ad monopolised outdoor advertisement with political clout and deprived Dhaka City Corporation of huge revenues.

Last month, the office of his advertising firm was raided twice.

The joint forces had earlier arrested Arafat's brother Tarique Rahman on March 7 at the same house as part of a drive against corruption and misuse of power.

Rahman Navigations is part-owned by his jailed brother's controversial business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun, who has been remanded for weeks on a host of criminal charges.