The Border Guard Bangladesh reported holding Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, former judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, from the Sylhet border with India. Manik was trying to flee the country via the Kanaighat border outpost.
The news broke out a little after the arrest of ASM Firoz, the Awami League leader, from his residence. According to a BGB notification, Manik has been kept in a BGB outpost since midnight.
The turbulence in Bangladesh started following the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina government as Prime Minister. Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, fled to India on August 5 after violent protests against job quotas that forced the Army to take over to fill the power vacuum. Anti-government protests since mid-July have claimed more than 500 lives. On August 8, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed Chief Adviser to the interim government.
Hundreds of leaders from the ousted regime have been arrested since the upheaval began, with senior ministers facing murder charges. The Bangladesh Army indicated that several hundred members of Hasina's Awami League and others were being sheltered in military cantonments for their own safety.
They included former law minister Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman, Hasina's adviser on private sector affairs, who were arrested at Dhaka's Sadarghat terminal on suspicion of trying to flee by boat. Other prominent arrests include former foreign minister Hassan Mahmud, former social welfare minister Dipu Moni, several cabinet members, lawmakers, and leaders of the Awami League, as well as its allies, including Workers Party chairman Rashed Khan Menon.
Also, sacked major general Ziaul Hassan and Chittagong Port Authority chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Sohail, both influential persons in the government and in uniform, are being detained. Among the detained are a TV journalist couple, Farzana Rupa and her husband Shakil Ahmed.
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