<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The Chief of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Harun Or Rashid on Friday said the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas who were picked up from their house in the early hours are being questioned.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“They have not been arrested. They were brought to the DB office for questioning on some issues,” he told the media at the capital's Minto road.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“They are still at DB office premises. Our next step in this regard will be informed after the questioning”, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We can question them if we feel it’s necessary. The situation that arose two days ago when at least 50 to 60 police members were hurt and we are questioning them about the overall issues,” said the DB Chief replying to a question.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“In Yesterday’s discussion, BNP proposed Kamalapur Stadium for December 10 rally venue but we suggested Bangla College Field as there is synthetic grass laid in the stadium for the cricket match which will get destroyed,” he said replying to another question.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police have decided on approving Bangla College Field. But some of the BNP leaders are now talking about Golapbagh field which was not discussed at the meeting,” added DB Chief Harun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BNP in the early hours on Friday claimed that plainclothes police picked up its Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas from their homes in separate raids in the capital city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BNP’s Media Cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan said that a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police went to Fakhrul’s Uttara house at the dead of night and picked him up around 3:00 am.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said another team of the DB police raided the house of Abbas at the same time and picked him up from his Shahjahanpur home in Dhaka.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain condemned the detention of the two top party leaders and said their party’s decision about Saturday’s rally will be announced after a virtual meeting of the standing committee that was supposed to begin at 11:30am.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Talking to reporters on Friday morning, Fakhrul’s wife Rahat Ara Begum said four DB police members came to the upstairs of their house around 3am while som others were staying downstairs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I asked them the reason behind their arrival here at the dead of night. They said they came here to take him (Fakhrul) away as per the directives of the higher authorities,” she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rahat Ara said as she asked them whether they had any warrant for his arrest, the law enforcers said he was accused in two or three fresh cases that were filed yesterday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I was asleep when Abbas woke me up and said they (DB members) were going to take me with them and I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Mirza Abbas’s wife Afroza Abbas</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They said they will return him after discussion with him, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier on Thursday night, a BNP delegation had a six-hour meeting with the DMP commissioner where they talked about holding the rally on Saturday (December 10) either at Kamalapur Stadium or Mirpur Bangla College ground.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, Abbas with some BNP leaders visited the two venues.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At that meeting, police authorities assured of reopening BNP office at Nayapaltan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday, a Swechchasebak Dal leader was killed and around 50 others were injured in a clash between police and the BNP activists in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office ahead of its December 10 rally.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Thursday, a Dhaka court sent 445 BNP leaders and activists to jail in two cases filed over Wednesday’s violence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam and Publication Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie were among the top leaders who were sent to jail, pending further legal procedures. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/ kh</div>