The Detective Branch (DB) of police has urged the parents of five coordinators for the quota reform movement not to be worried about their sons as they are now in safe police custody.
"We've taken them (the coordinators) in our custody on their security grounds. We assure that their families should not get worried," Harun-or-Rashid, chief of DB under the DMP, told a press briefing at his Minto Road office in the capital on Sunday.
So far, detective police have taken five coordinators for the student movement to the DB office.
Mr Harun said it is police's responsibility to nab the BNP-Jamaat clique who is allegedly responsible for damaging government buildings and torching vehicles during the movement.
DB's responsibility to take anyone in safe custody for their life security.
"So, it is our moral responsibility to provide them (the students in custody) with safety and security," he maintained.
The government fears that a vested quarter, BNP and Jamaat might cause harm for the students, the DB chief said.
However, he said that the detective police did not torture the coordinators.
Asked whether the students were being interrogated in custody, he said, "We're talking to them on different issues."
Responding to a query on how many days they will remain in the DB custody, Mr Harun said, "We'll talk to the coordinators and their families about the matter."
In another development, parents of Brac University teacher Asif Mahtab Uttasho rushed to the DB office here on Sunday to know their son's whereabouts.
"We don't know the reason why Asif was picked up. We're worried about our son," his father Sahabur Rahman told the media in front of the DB office.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com