325 arrested during block raid in Ctg

The police take a group of people arrested during a block raid to Chittagong court yesterday while worried family members and relatives crowd the court premises in search of their near and dear ones. PHOTO: STAR

All the 12 police stations in the city launched the raid at around 12:00 noon, sources said.

Of the detainees, 249 were held under Metropolitan Act, 22 under regular case and three under Section 54 while the remaining 51 are accused of various crimes.

Although the exact number of 'political' detainees couldn't be known as of 4:30pm, sources in the police hinted that the figure would stand at about 100.

Worried family members, relatives and friends of the arrestees packed the Chittagong court premises at around 3:00pm when the police vans carrying the detainees started arriving there.

Of the arrestees, 62 were held by Bayezid Bostami police, 39 by Kotwali police, 28 by Panchlaish police, 25 by Doublemooring police, 23 by Khulshi police, 20 by Bakalia police, 15 by Chandgaon police, 10 by Bandar police, 10 by Halishahar police, 8 by Pahartali police, 6 by Karnaphuli police and 3 by Patenga police, sources said.

The raid was conducted as per instruction of the police commissioner, said duty officers of different police stations.