Chandpur district Awami League president Nasir Uddin detained in special drive on day memorial was set on fire

Police have detained Nasir Uddin Ahmed, president of the Chandpur district Awami League, whose activities are banned, in a special operation in Chandpur. He was detained on Friday evening from his home in the Puran Bazar area of Chandpur town.

Chandpur Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Nadira Noor confirmed the detention. She said Nasir Uddin Ahmed had been detained in the special operation and that the drive was still continuing across the district. The latest figures on detentions would be announced later, she said.

Mohammad Fayez Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Chandpur Model Police Station, said the special police operation was under way and several people had been detained. Details would be announced once the operation ended, he said.

Several more people were detained in raids at different places in the town, but their number could not be confirmed immediately. As a result, police had not announced by Friday evening how many people had been detained in total in the district.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, the '36 July Martyrs' Memorial' located in the Shaheed Minar premises in Chandpur town was set on fire. The memorial, built in memory of the 2024 mass uprising and its martyrs, was damaged in the arson, with much of the lower part of its plinth affected.

In protest at the arson at the memorial, leaders and activists of the BNP's affiliated and associate organisations and 11 parties held separate protest marches at different places in Chandpur town on Friday evening.