Staff Reporter :Plainclothes police picked up Nagorik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna from the city’s Banani area in the small hours of Tuesday.Meher Nigar, wife of Manna, alleged that Detective Branch police picked up her husband from his niece Shahnama Sharmin’s house at Road No. 17-A, Block E in Banani at around 3:30am.”They came in plainclothes. They said they are from the Detective Branch. They were in a hurry and not even allowed time to wear his dress. They dragged him out by applying force. While leaving the place, they said Manna was taken to their office,” she said.”We are trying to know his whereabouts. We will take legal step in this regard,” she added.Joint Commissioner of Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Monirul Islam, however, categorically denied of playing any role in detention of Manna. “We did not detain or arrest Manna….We are checking if any other agency has detained him,” he said. “We are now investigating Manna’s phone conversations with BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka and an unnamed person. If we find the conversation genuine and provocative, we will arrest him following the legal procedures,” Monirul Islam also said.Meanwhile, the family of former DUCSU VP Manna has filed a GD [general diary] yesterday [Tuesday] over the alleged detention by plainclothes men identifying themselves as detective police.Manna’s sister-in-law [wife of elder brother] Begum Sultana lodged the complaint with Banani Police Station at around 1:45pm yesterday. She claimed in the GD that six to seven men took Manna away from their residence.Apart from it, a writ petition was also filed by Manna’s wife Meher Nigar yesterday seeking a directive on the government and the police to produce Manna before the High Court immediately. The writ petitioner claimed that Detective Branch of police arrested her husband and took away him from his relative’s house.The petitioner also sought directives on the Home Secretary, Inspector General of Police, Rapid Action Battalion Director General and Officers-in-Charge of Banani and Gulshan police stations to explain why they should not be directed to produce Manna before the High Court and why his detention would not be declared illegal.Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain Sazu said, “The HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Md Ashraful Kamal is likely to hear the petition on Wednesday.”In an instant reaction, Nilom Manna, daughter of Manna, said, “We demand a proper investigation.”The mysterious detention came two days after audio clips of a telephone [viver] conversation between Manna and BNP vice chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who is currently residing in the USA, and an unidentified person, was leaked on Sunday night.The tele conversation reveals that Manna has been planning to facilitate military interventions to take steps to oust the government.The phone conversation irked high ups of government while several ministers on Monday’s regular cabinet meeting demanded his immediate arrest for hatching anti-government conspiracy. Not only that, demand of his arrest on sedition charges was also raised by several ruling Awami League leaders. About six GDs so far have been filed with Shahbagh, Ramna and Paltan police stations against Manna and the leaked conversations.Shahbagh police sub-inspector (SI) Sirajul Islam said, “The Officer in Charge or any SI files a GD when there is any important news for future reference. In the same way, a GD was filed with Shahbagh Police Station by the OC.”Paltan police OC Morshed Alam said that a GD has been filed naming Manna, Khoka and unidentified person based on Monday’s news. A police official said that two GDs have been filed at the Ramna Police Station too.
