Friday was the 19th imprisonment day of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman.
Eighteen years ago, on the night of March 7, 2007, during the tenure of the military-backed caretaker government, a team of joint forces arrested Tarique Rahman from his residence on Moinul Road in the Dhaka Cantonment. He was taken into custody for questioning and subsequently taken into remands.
During that time, Tarique Rahman had to spend 18 months in prison, as he was implicated in 13 cases. He gradually secured bail from the court in all the cases.
On September 3, 2008, Tarique Rahman was granted bail in all these cases. Just eight days later, with the permission of the then caretaker government, he left Dhaka for London on September 11.
Since then, he has been staying in London with his family, from where he has been serving as the acting chairperson of the BNP.
When BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia was imprisoned on allegedly false charges by the Sheikh Hasina-led government, Tarique Rahman had to lead the BNP from London.
He has been leading the party as its acting chairperson since February 9, 2018, following his mother's imprisonment.