Nearly 3,000 arrested in Dhaka, 11,000 nationwide
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested 2,950 individuals, primarily students and ordinary citizens as of Wednesday morning and 272 cases have been filed across various police stations in the capital since 16 July, according to DMP sources.
An official from the DMP's Media and Public Relations Division told TBS that at least 53 of these cases involve murder charges related to the deaths of students, police officers, and a political leader during the recent deadly clashes that erupted over the quota reform protests.
On Wednesday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police presented approximately 100 individuals in courts in connection with various cases, he said.
With the latest rounds of arrests, at least 11,000 individuals, including students and members of the BNP and Jamaat-Shibir, have been detained across 672 cases filed in the capital and 51 districts over the past 13 days since July 18.
These cases involve several thousand named individuals and numerous unnamed ones.
According to the DMP official, the cases — filed primarily by the police — concern violence, vandalism, and arson.
Biplob Kumar Sarker, joint commissioner (operations) of the DMP, told the media that block raids to arrest the "perpetrators" are to continue.
Meanwhile, police in Chattogram have arrested 983 people from the night of 16 July to 31 July morning in the 34 cases filed in connection with murders, sabotage and vandalism during the quota-reform protests.
Of the 34 cases, 23 were filed with police stations in Chattogram Metropolitan areas and 11 cases with police stations in Chattogram district.
"A total of 578 people including 12 in the last 24 hours have been arrested in 23 cases," Public Relations Officer of CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Tarek Aziz told The Business Standard.
"While, the district police have arrested five people in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 405 in 11 cases," Additional Superintendent of district police Abu Tayub Mohammad Arif said.