The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu shortly after Sunday midnight.

An additional deputy commissioner of the DB confirmed the matter to The Business Standard on condition of anonymity.

"Today, 5 November 2023, Sunday, shortly after 12:00am, a group of 15-20 people identifying themselves as DB police picked up Shamsuzzaman Dudu from his elder sister's cantonment residence," Shamsuddin Dider, an official of BNP chairperson's media wing, said in a press statement issued at around 1:00am.

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"Dudu's nephew, businessman Hasnat Ashraf Robin was also taken away by the police," he added.

Earlier on Sunday, RAB arrested former Home Minister and BNP Vice Chairman Air Vice Marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury. 

BNP Vice-Chairman Barrister Shahjahan Omar Bir Uttam and  BNP Organising Secretary (Mymensingh division) Imran Saleh Prince were also picked up by police, according to a statement released by the party. 

Reportedly, the arrests were made over the sabotage case filed centring the BNP's 28 October rally, which devolved into violence, said the official.

On 28 October, the chief justice's residence came under attack when miscreants threw brick chips during the political rallies. 

Many BNP activists, including the party's senior leaders, have been arrested and remanded recently over the recent political violence.

Police have detained BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Members Mirza Abbas, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, among other leaders, following deadly clashes that rocked parts of Dhaka and the rest of the country as the party and its allies called for a hartal and a three-day long nationwide blockade.