Former Law Ministers Anisur Haque and Salman F. Rahman arrested

Former Law Minister Anisur Haque and Sheikh Hasina’s private sector adviser Salman F. Rahman have been arrested by the police.

DMP Commissioner Mainul Hasan confirmed the incident to Dhaka Post. He said they were arrested in Sadarghat area of ​​the capital.

Mainul Hasan also said they were arrested in a case at Newmarket police station this afternoon.

Anisur Haque was the first minister to be arrested after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. On the other hand, Salman F. Rahman also served as an advisor to Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet ministers.

Facing a student and popular uprising over the quota reform movement, Sheikh Hasina resigned from the country on August 5. Soon after, ministers in Sheikh Hasina’s government and other leaders of the Awami League went into hiding. The news of Salman F. Rahman’s arrest came today, but Indian media had earlier claimed that he had left the country along with Sheikh Hasina.

Lawyer Anisul Haque was elected as the Awami League MP from Brahmanbaria-4 (Kasba) in 2014. He was appointed as the Law Minister on that occasion. He has been serving as the Law Minister since then.

Salman F. Rahman is the former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and one of the founders of Beximco Group. He is the private sector advisor to Awami League Chairperson Sheikh Hasina.

In the 2018 elections, Salman F Rahman was elected as an Awami League MP from Dhaka Constituency 1. Later, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appointed him as an advisor on private industries and investments.

The anti-discrimination student movement has been demanding that Sheikh Hasina be brought to trial for her role in the quota reform movement, which left more than 500 people dead. Sheikh Hasina has also been charged with a murder case for indiscriminate shooting during the movement.

Sheikh Hasina and former Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and seven others have been charged in the case.

Sajib Wazed Joy, the son who remained in the US after Sheikh Hasina left for India and is essentially the face of the Awami League, told the Press Trust of India news agency that he will return when democracy is reestablished in Bangladesh. This is despite Joy having earlier told several international media outlets that Hasina would never return to the country.

Zhu/NF