Awami League leader Amir Hossain Amu arrested

The Detective Branch arrested him from Dhaka’s Dhanmondi

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested former minister and Awami League Advisory Council member Amir Hossain Amu.

Amu was arrested from west Dhanmondi, according to Mohammad Talebur Rahman, the DC of the DMP’s Media Wing.

Legal action is being taken against the influential leader of the deposed Awami League, but Talebur did not specify in which case Amu had been arrested.

Amu, like many other Awami League leaders, had been out of the public eye since a mass movement brought down the government on Aug 5.

That day, as news of Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country spread, Amu’s residence in Jhalakathi was set on fire.

Law enforcers then recovered nearly Tk 50 million in local and foreign currency from the residence.

On Aug 14, the accounts of the 14 Party's convener were frozen.

Cases have been filed against him since the government changeover.

Amu, a Chhatra League leader in the 1960s, became a member of the Provincial Council from Barishal in the 1970 polls. He was elected to parliament five times since independence, with the last as the MP for the Jhalakathi-2 seat in the 12th National Parliamentary Election.

During the Liberation War, Amu was the head of the Mujib Bahini in the Barishal, Khulna, Patuakhali, Jashore, and Faridpur districts. He served as the chairman of the Jubo League from 1978 to 1986. In 1992, he was elevated to the Awami League Presidium.

When the Awami League returned to power in 1996, Amu was appointed as food minister. At the very end of the party’s rule in the 2009-2014 term, Hasina assigned him to lead the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief amid a number of reshuffles in the Cabinet.

He was appointed as minister of industry after the Awami League formed a government after the 2014 polls.

Since 2020, Amu has been the convener and spokesman for the 14-Party Alliance.