Jamaat leaders freed; police say there weren’t detained, but questioned

Jamaat leaders have been freed from Dhaka Metropolitan Police Headquarters hours after their “detention”.

“You can’t not say it is a detention as we’re just verifying their identity whether they are accused in previous cases or not,” Muhammad Salman Farsi, assistant commissioner of Ramna zone told The Business Standard on Monday.

He further said, “The Jamaat leaders were taken to DMP headquarters in the afternoon after verifying their identity. And hours later they left the DMP office and met the DMP high-up’s regarding the Monday’s rally permission.”

However, whether they get permission or not, the police official refused to make any comment on this.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami issued a statement, saying that four of their leaders were detained outside the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Headquarters when they went to submit an application seeking permission to hold their programme scheduled for 5 May.

The leaders are Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association’s former assistant secretary Advocate Saifur Rahman, former senior vice president advocate Jalal Uddin Bhuian, and Supreme Court lawyers advocate Mostafizur Rahman and advocate Abdul Karim.

On 28 May, Jamaat-e-Islami announced a protest rally in the capital on Monday (5 June) to demand the release of the party chief and other detained leaders.