BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul, Abbas 'detained', say families. Police 'unaware'

Plain-clothes officers led them away from their homes in the dead of night, according to their families

BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Mirza Abbas were arrested at their homes in the middle of the night, according to their families.

The wives of the party's secretary general and standing committee member say they were taken away by plain-clothes officers around 3 am on Friday.

But the police are yet to issue any statement on the matter. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq said, "I am not aware of this. I can't talk about anything that is outside my knowledge.”

Additional Police Commissioner Hafiz Akhtar echoed Faruq.

BNP leaders will sit at an emergency meeting over the arrest of Mirza Fakhrul and Abbas at 11 am on Friday. The arrests of the two senior leaders came ahead of an antigovernment rally planned for Saturday.

Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the opposition party, will preside over the meeting virtually from London, said acting office secretary Emran Saleh Prince.

All scheduled programmes at the BNP office in Naya Paltan have been postponed, Prince said.