Fellows and family members on Sunday alleged that intelligence agencies of police picked up two more coordinators of the Students Movement Against Discrimination and a former university teacher as part of the crackdown against students, who protested in the past weeks for quota reform in public services.
Nusrat Tabassum, a coordinator of the platform and Dhaka University political science student, was picked up from her Mirpur home by 10鈥�12 members of the detective police at about 5:00am on Sunday.
Arif Sohel, another coordinator and Jahangirnagar University student, was allegedly picked up by about 10 plainclothes identifying themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation Department and DB from a rented house in Aambagan near the university campus in Savar.
Some plainclothes, identifying themselves as DB police, picked up former BRAC University teacher Asif Mahtab from his house in the capital鈥檚 Uttara area at about 1:00am, alleged his father Shahabur Rahman.
DB admitted detaining Nusrat and Asif to 鈥榚nsure their security,鈥� but authorities admitted arresting JU student Arif, leading to protests by students and teachers of the university in Savar.
Earlier on Friday, the DB took three student leaders鈥擭ahid Islam, Abu Baker Mazumdar, and Asif Mahmud鈥攊n their custody forcibly from Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital鈥檚 Dhanmondi area.
DB also picked up two other coordinators, Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah, on Saturday evening.
Addressing a press conference, DMP鈥檚 DB chief Harun-or-Rashid said that quota protest coordinator Nusrat Tabassum and BRAC University former teacher Asif Mahtab were taken to DB custody for security reasons.
He said that they had taken Nusrat, Asif, and five others to ensure their safety.
鈥業 advise their families not to be worried,鈥� said Harun.
Responding to a question about how many days the protesters would be kept in DB custody, Harun said that they would talk to the protesters and their families about the matter.
Nahid Islam鈥檚 father, Badrul Islam, told 抖阴精品聽 that Nahid鈥檚 mother and three aunties went to the DB office on Sunday to meet him, but DB did not allow them to do so.
鈥榃e do not want my son to remain in DB custody in the name of security. We are anxious about them. We want to keep him with family members,鈥� he added.
In a video a message sent out from DB office, Nahid announced to withdraw their programmes and urged the government to reopen the campuses.
JU protest leader Arif Sohel鈥檚 father, Abul Khayer, said that the plainclothes picked him up from their house at about 4:45am.
鈥楾he plainclothes men also picked up my elder son, Mohammad Ali Jewel, whom they released at the Genda area of Savar,鈥� he said, adding that the family was yet to know the whereabouts of Arif Sohel.
He said that the plainclothes informed him that he was being taken away for interrogation about the ongoing anti-quota movement.
Ashulia police station officer-in-charge AFM Sayed said that he was not aware of it.
Dhaka district DB North region officer-in-charge Riyaz Uddin Ahmed denied the allegations of picking him up.聽
Protesting the arrest of Arif, Jahangirnagar University teachers, under the banner of Teachers Platform Against Oppression, staged a human chain on the campus at about 1:00pm on the day.聽聽
The human chain was formed on the premises of Chhatra Janata Smriti Shtambo鈥攁 monument built on the campus to mark the sacrifices of lives during the quota reform movement.
Both the pro-Awami League and pro-BNP teachers, under the banner, demanded the whereabouts of Arif Sohel and other missing protest coordinators.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan claimed that the five coordinators of the movement 鈥榟ave not been arrested鈥� and they would be released once the police deem them out of danger.
Students鈥� protests that had been continuing since early July seeking reform in quotas for government jobs turned violent following an attack on protesters by the ruling party student body, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, on July 16.
The resulting backlash prompted the government to launch a brutal crackdown on protesters, leaving at least 212 people killed and thousands injured in clashes in the past week.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Sunday that, in their primary estimate, 147 people were killed in clashes during the protests.
The government shut down the internet, imposed a curfew, and called in the army to end the protests before arresting nearly 10,000 people, mostly leaders and activists of opposition political parties, on charges of carrying out vandalism and damaging some key infrastructure.
