Law enforcement agencies and security forces on Wednesday arrested 1,686 people, including 591 in the Operation Devil Hunt aimed at restoring the deteriorated law and order situation.
Firearms and ammunition, including one foreign pistol, two LG, four one-shooter guns, one Chinese riffle and three rounds of bullets, along with sharp weapons were also seized in the operation, said the police headquarters in a press release on Wednesday.
Outside the Operation Devil Hunt, 1,095 arrests were made on Wednesday in different types of cases across the country, it said.
Home adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury at a programme in Gazipur on Wednesday said that the nationwide 鈥極peration Devil Hunt鈥� being carried out by the joint forces would continue as long as 鈥榙evils鈥� existed.
On Sunday, on the day the government launched the countrywide police-led operation of the joint forces, 1,308 people were arrested, on Monday 1,521 others, including 343 in the Operation Devil Hunt, were arrested and on Tuesday 1,775 people, including 607 in the Operation Devil Hunt, were arrested.
Most of the 6,290 individuals arrested in the drives, including the Operation Devil Hunt, in the four days are leaders and activists of Awami League and its allies, according to police officials.
On February 8, the government announced the launch of Operation Devil Hunt against the backdrop of February 7 violent attacks on students and people in Gazipur that left 15 students injured.
Many Awami League leaders in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country have been on the run to avoid arrest since the night of February 8 when the drive was launched.
At least 28 leaders and activists of the AL and its affiliated bodies were arrested in special operation on Wednesday for their involvement in attacks on student protesters during the anti-discrimination movement, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Chattogram reported.
Forty-eight people, suspected to be leaders and activists of AL, were arrested in Gazipur on the fourth day of the ongoing Operation Devil Hunt, the United News of Bangladesh reported.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Barishal reported that 35 people were arrested in Barishal division in the past 24 hours till Wednesday noon.
At least 14 leaders of the AL and its associate bodies were arrested from Khagrachari on Wednesday, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Khagrachari reported, quoting Khagrachari superintendent of police Md Jewel Arefin.
Quoting additional superintendent of police Mohammad Ibrahim, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Noakhali reported that at least 13 leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies were arrested in Noakhali district on Wednesday.
At least eight leaders and activists of the AL and its associate bodies were arrested from Feni on the day, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Feni reported quoting Feni Model police station investigation inspector Iqbal Hossain.
The Operation Devil Hunt was announced in the aftermath of a spate of attacks carried out on the houses of Awami League leaders, party offices, and the murals and portraits of the country鈥檚 founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his daughter deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina since February 5 when the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum building at Dhanmondi 32 in Dhaka was razed to the ground.
The chaotic situation ensued when different groups on their social media platforms called on people to join the 鈥楤ulldozer procession鈥� to demolish the Dhanmondi 32 building over the speech of Sheikh Hasina, now sheltered in India following her ouster amid a mass uprising, to the country鈥檚 student community online on February 5 evening.
