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Published : 06 Sep 2025, 04:37 PM
Police have arrested nine people for taking part in an Awami League procession in defiance of a ban on the party from engaging in political activities.
On Friday, more than a thousand leaders and activists under the banner of Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League brought out a procession in the capital's Tejgaon.
Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station chief Md Aslam Hossain said seven people were arrested directly at the scene, while two others were detained separately.
“We arrested seven from the procession and two from other locations,” he said on Saturday.
Among the nine, six are between 19 and 27 years old.
Those arrested at the procession are Ziaur Rahman, 20, Rubel Hossain, 27, Abdur Rahman, 40, Hridoy Rafi, 19, Fahim Talukdar, 21, Firoz Ahmed, 23, and Mehedi Hasan Hridoy, 22. The other two arrestees were identified as Faruk, 57, and Mofiz Uddin, 47.
Aslam said they have been sent to court with a request for remand under charges of sabotage.
Police had previously announced the arrests of eight people, including former Nilphamari-3 MP Saddam Hossain Pavel, on charges of planning and financing the flash procession.
The procession kicked off shortly after Friday prayers in Tejgaon’s Nabisco factory area.
Chanting slogans in support of party chief and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and against Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration, protesters marched towards the Tibet factory area.
Aslam said security forces had tried to prevent gatherings earlier in the day, detaining one Chhatra League activist in the morning.
Previously, similar rallies under the banned party’s banner had been reported in different areas of Dhaka, including Dhanmondi.
On Aug 31, Awami League activists were seen marching from Rapa Plaza on Dhanmondi Road 27 to the street in front of Bangladesh Eye Hospital in Shankar. About a week earlier, several hundred party members had demonstrated at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Gulistan.
Awami League chief Hasina fled to India on Aug 5, 2024, after a student-led mass uprising overthrew her government after more than 15 years in power. An interim government helmed by Yunus was formed three days later, on Aug 8.
Since then, a series of arrests, targeting Awami League ministers, state ministers, top leaders and influential MPs, have been made. Some leaders from the party's alliance partners have also been detained.
Most senior Awami League figures, however, remain in hiding, leaving them absent from regular political activities.
Since taking office, the interim government has launched initiatives to try Hasina and other Awami League leaders for crimes against humanity, including allegations of killing hundreds of people during a crackdown on last year's anti-government protests.
Until those trials are concluded, all Awami League political activities have been officially banned.
