The police have arrested 35 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Shibir for their alleged involvement with violance during the hartals in 2013.
AKM Imran Bhuiyan told the Dhaka Tribune: “The 35 leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir were wanted in a number of cases filed on charge of vandalism, arson, explosion and assault on police.”
“Tipped off, separate teams of Satkania and Lohagora police conduted drives in different areas under the two police stations and arrested them. The drive started at 5pm on Thursday and ended at 6am on Friday.”
However, their identities were not made public.
Several number of people were killed and hundreds injured in separate incidents in Chittagong during the BNP-led 18-party alliance called hartals before the January 5 election.
Police, BNP-led alliance and Awami League men clashed in different parts of the districts.
The pro-hartal activists torched and vandalised several hundreds of vehicles and blasted dozens of crude bombs, leaving a number of people dead.