Bangladesh army arrests student leader

BANGLADESH: The Bangladesh army has arrested a top student leader and five colleagues as part of a crackdown on suspected "criminals and terrorists" after a state of emergency was imposed last week, police said.

Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, 25, general secretary of the main opposition Awami League's student wing, and five other senior leaders, were taken from Dhaka University campus, said police sub-inspector Golam Rabbani.

"They were handed over to police and sent to jail on detention," he added. An official said earlier that the army was arresting "criminals and terrorists".

The number arrested now stood at at least 173, Home Ministry spokesman Shahinur Mia told AFP.

Media reports said the targets were "corruptionists and godfathers". Other arrests included a town council chairman and the four sons of a former member of parliament at Narsingdi, in the outskirts of Dhaka, said police officer Abdul Aziz.

"Several illegal arms were also seized from the sons of the former ruling party MP," he said.

DHAKA, Friday, AFP