Bogura District Detective Branch (DB) police have arrested four leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Volunteer League, including its district president Sazedur Rahman Shahin.
The arrests were made on Monday night, 28 September, during separate operations in areas under Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar Sadar police stations. Police said all four had been in hiding for an extended period.
Those arrested are Sazedur Rahman Shahin, 52, president of the Bogura district unit and former chairman of Kharna Union; Syed Abu Zafar Siddique Ripon, 60, senior vice-president of the district unit; Sabbir Hossain Nirjon, also known as Bhadu, 29, organising secretary of the Bogura city unit; and Ferdous Hossain, 26, who is identified as an activist of the organisation.
According to police, Shahin has more than 15 cases against him. Sabbir Hossain Nirjon faces more than 10 cases, while Ferdous Hossain has more than two cases. The police did not provide details of the nature of each case or the current status of the proceedings.
Iqbal Bahar, officer-in-charge of the Bogura District DB, said investigators had received confidential information about the whereabouts of the four individuals. Based on that information, teams conducted operations in areas under Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar Sadar police stations.
The four were arrested at around 10pm on Monday, according to the DB officer. Police said they had remained out of public view for some time before their locations were identified.
The arrests come amid police efforts to trace individuals wanted in cases filed in different parts of the country. In this case, the Bogura DB is reviewing the cases against the four arrested individuals before deciding on the next legal steps.
Police are also examining the records of the cases to determine which proceedings are currently active and what measures are required under the law. Details concerning whether the accused have previously secured bail, faced warrants or been subject to other court orders were not immediately disclosed.
The DB said further legal action would be taken after the relevant case records had been checked. The arrested individuals will remain subject to the judicial process, through which the allegations against them will be examined and their legal responsibility determined.
