40 Ctg BNP men freed, Tahrir militant held at jail gate

Forty more local BNP leaders and activists were released on bail in Chittagong while an activist of outlawed outfit Hizb-ut Tahrir (HuTi) was arrested again at the jail gate after he was released on bail from the divisional jail on Thursday. Police arrested around 300 people in a drive conducted at Nasiman Bhaban in the port city on January 5 this year in a violence case. Earlier, 136 BNP men were freed on bail in the same case. Chittagong Central Jail's deputy jailer Mohammad Monirul Islam said that 40 people were released from the prison on Thursday as they received bail order on Wednesday. On January 5, scores of activists of BNP and its key-ally Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir gathered in front of Nasiman Bhaban to attend a protest rally organised by BNP-led 20-party alliance. The protesters vandalised vehicles and torched them and also exploded crude bombs creating panic among the passengers and vehicles and the pedestrians. At one stage, they locked into clashes with police. Police filed a case with the local police station. Later, the law enforcers conducted a drive and arrested 300 people from the area, according to a news agency.