'Block raid' continues as two more quota movement leaders picked up

Police, along with other law enforcement agencies, continued "block raids" in the capital in search of the "perpetrators" for the fourth consecutive day, while two coordinators of the quota movement, Arif Sohel and Nusrat Tabassum, were reportedly picked up by individuals identifying themselves as "DB and CID officials" today.

Although it was later disclosed that Nusrat was detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), no law enforcement agency had confirmed Arif's detention at the time of this report.

Several Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) sources said they have listed different zones as crisis basis and the search for the "perpetrators" to be continued until security threats neutralise.

Since the quota movement erupted, the DMP has arrested 2,764 people from different parts of the capital while 228 individuals, mostly students, were arrested on Saturday, said DMP's media and public relations additional deputy commissioner KN Niyoti Roy.

The officer also said 229 cases were filed in connection of vandalism, arson attack and police killing incidents till Sunday.

Meanwhile, RAB has also arrested 334 people from across the country, among them 77 from Dhaka and 227 from different districts, said RAB legal and media wing assistant director A N M Emran Khan.

According to police headquarters sources, more than 700 cases have been filed across the country related to the quota movement, with around 10,000 people already arrested and hundreds of thousands of unnamed individuals and quota movement protesters accused in those cases.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker said, "We have carried out raids in the capital and we will continue the raids until the perpetrators are arrested."

When asked about the perpetrators, he replied, "We are not arresting general students, only those who vandalised government properties and set them on fire."

The police officials also hinted that the raids would continue for at least another 3-4 days. "We will conduct raids based on areas identified as security risks. No one will be able to flee the capital," he added.

He further stated that it would take more time to determine how many people have been killed in the violence so far.

"Every death needs to be verified, as some bodies were buried without being taken to the hospital for an autopsy. Therefore, it will take time to tally the total number of deaths," he added.

Since last Thursday, police and various law enforcement agencies have been conducting "block raids" in different parts of the capital where most university students reside, including Bashundhara Residential Area, Shaheen Bagh, Mohakhali, Mirpur DOHS, and ECB Chattar, according to police officers and witnesses.

On Sunday, police launched block raids in Uttara, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Azimpur, Jatrabari, and other areas of the capital, primarily targeting student dormitories and residences.

Two coordinators picked up

Nusrat Tabassum, a coordinator at Dhaka University's Shamsunnahar Hall for the quota reform platform "Anti-Discrimination Student Movement," was detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. She is the first female leader of the quota movement to be detained since the protests erupted across the country.

Nusrat's cousin, Meher Nigar Misty, told TBS that Nusrat was taken from her house in Rupnagar, Mirpur, at around 5am on Sunday. Misty informed journalists that 10-15 armed men in plainclothes, claiming to be DB officers, arrived at the house where Nusrat was staying and took her away.

Nusrat is a student in the Department of Political Science at DU.

Arif Sohel, coordinator of the Jahangirnagar University branch of the movement, was reportedly taken away by individuals identifying themselves as "DB" and "CID" officers. As of the time of this report, neither the DB nor the CID confirmed his detention.

According to Arif Sohel's family members, around 3:45am on Sunday night, 8-10 individuals claiming to be from the DB and CID took him from his rented house in the Ambagan area near Jahangirnagar University, where he lived with his family.

Arif Sohel is a student of the 2017-18 academic year (47th batch) in the Department of International Relations at the university.

His father, Md Abul Khair, said, "Around 3:30am last night, 8-10 individuals came to our house and knocked on the gate. Arif's elder brother, Mohammad Ali Jewel, came downstairs and asked for their identification without opening the gate."

"At one point, Jewel called me, and I went to the gate. The individuals asked me to open it, claiming they wanted to have tea with Arif's family, and identified themselves as members of the DB and CID," he added.