Shawkat Mahmud arrested

Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested BNP chairperson`s adviser Shawkat Mahmud from in front of Samurai Convention Centre in the city’s Panthapath area on Tuesday morning while he was on his way to attend a press conference. After the arrest, he was taken to the DB headquarters.

Shawkat Mahmud was arrested in three cases for arson attacks on vehicles, vandalising vehicles and crude bomb blasts in the city’s Jatrabari area, said Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Muntasirul Islam.

A press conference of Adarsha Dhaka Andolan, an electoral platform of pro-Bangladesh Nationalist Party professionals, was scheduled to be held at Samurai Convention Centre in the morning.

But police foiled the programme and picked up Shawkat Mahmud, member secretary of the organisation, from in front of the convention centre at 11.15am.