The police have arrested 2536 people in Dhaka in connection with the recent unrest centring student protests for quota reforms in public services.
They were arrested from July 12 to 26 from different parts of the capital, said KN Roy Nioty, ADC (Media and Public Relations) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Besides, members of Rapid Action Battalion arrested 290 people from different parts of the country, including Dhaka in connection with the unrest.
ASP Imran Khan of the RAB headquarters media wing said the drives were conducted till Saturday morning.
During the drives, 71 people were arrested from Dhaka while the rest were from outside Dhaka, he said.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday said law enforcement agencies鈥� drives would continue until attackers and saboteurs were identified and none would be spared.
鈥楴o matter who they are, no one will be spared,鈥� he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with the law enforcement agencies and public representatives at Rangpur Shilpakala Auditorium.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch chief Harun-or-Rashid said those who had committed acts of sabotage and killed police officers in the name of the quota movement would not be spared, no matter where they were.
He made this remark at a press conference held at the DB office in the capital on Friday.
The DB chief said that those who killed the police officers, murdered civilians and sabotaged government installations, including the metro rail, will face legal action and those who led these activities and financed them or facilitated financial transactions will not be spared, no matter where they were.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday claimed that at least 2,000 opposition leaders and activists were arrested across the country following the student protests.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP chairperson鈥檚 Gulshan office, he demanded immediate release of the party鈥檚 arrested leaders and activists.
鈥楽o far we have come to know that around 2,000 of our leaders and activists were arrested,鈥� said Fakhrul.
He, however, said they don鈥檛 still have the exact information about the arrestees and casualties as the communication system had been closed by the government.
