DHAKA, August 8, 2026: Police have arrested six activists of the Awami League’s Chaugachha upazila unit in Jashore while they were at a restaurant in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Friday night. Police, however, said the group was holding a “secret meeting” at the restaurant.
The arrests have drawn criticism from Awami League supporters, who claim that the six had gone to the restaurant to have dinner and were not holding any secret meeting. They have strongly condemned the arrests and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of those detained.
Among those arrested are Mehedi Masud Chowdhury, general secretary of the Chaugachha Upazila Awami League and chairman of Phulsara Union Parishad; S M Alif, son of Chaugachha Upazila Awami League president S M Habibur Rahman; Ibrahim Hossain, general secretary of the Upazila Swechchhasebak League; Nannu, an Awami League activist from Laskarpur village; and Aminur Rahman Palash, along with another individual.
Gulshan police arrested the six at around 9:30pm on Friday, August 7, from a restaurant on the fifth floor of Police Plaza in Gulshan.
Gulshan Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Daud Hossain said police received information that several Awami League leaders and activists were holding a “secret meeting” at the restaurant.
Acting on the information, police conducted a raid and arrested six people, he said.
However, relatives and party supporters of the detainees dispute the police account. They maintain that the group had gone to the restaurant to eat and allege that the gathering was portrayed as a “secret meeting” to justify the arrests.
Awami League supporters have also questioned the role of law-enforcement agencies and the process through which the arrests were made. They have called for the six detainees to be released immediately and without conditions.
Police are reportedly taking further legal action against the arrested individuals.
