Police detained BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir from his Gulshan residence on Sunday morning.
Amid BNP’s hartal, a group of law enforcers raided Fakhrul’s gulshan-2 house and detained him around 9.25 am, said BNP media wing member Sairul Kabir Khan.
Police were not immediately available for comment on Fakhrul's detention.
The detention came as opposition BNP called for a dawn-to-dusk nationwide hartal for Sunday to protest violence centering the party's grand rally at Nayapaltan on Saturday.
Fakhrul announced the shutdown after suspending the rally abruptly following violent clashes between law enforcers and opposition activists that killed at least two people, including a police constable and injured several hundred others.
Half an hour after the start of BNP's much-talked-about grand rally at Nayapaltan, the party's leaders and workers locked into a clash with the police at Kakrail. With the passage of time, violent clashes spread around Nayapaltan, forcing BNP to abruptly call off the rally.
According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police, its constable Aminul Islam, 30, was killed and 102 others were injured during the clashes with the opposition protesters.
DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Faruk Hossain said that the injured policemen were undergoing treatment at different hospitals, including Rajarbagh Police Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He said they were injured during clashes in Motijheel, Kakrail and Naya Paltan areas while on duty, Faruk Hossain added.
Besides, Jubo Dal claimed its Mugda thana unit leader Shamim Molla died at Rajarbagh Police Hospital after receiving bullets at Nayapaltan during the clashes.
Jubo Dal acting general secretary Shafiqul Islam Milton said Shamim was shot by law enforcers at Nayapaltan and he was declared dead while taken to the police hospital. He claimed that Shamim’s body was there at the police hospital morgue.
