Bangladesh police release student leaders after unrest
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Protesters marching in front of the Supreme Court area in Dhaka on July 31.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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DHAKA – Bangladesh police on Aug 1 released from custody six student leaders whose protest campaign against civil service job quotas sparked deadly nationwide unrest last month, a senior officer told AFP.
The group organised rallies against civil service job quotas in July
“All six quota movement coordinators have been returned to their families this afternoon,” deputy commissioner Junaed Alam Sarkar said.
Police had detained the top members of Students Against Discrimination over the past week, including leader Nahid Islam.
He and two others were forcibly discharged from a hospital in the capital Dhaka on July 26 by plainclothes detectives and taken to an unknown location.
His father, Mr Badrul Islam, told AFP that his son had returned home in the afternoon on Aug 1 but did not give any more details.
Three others were detained in the following days, with the government saying at the time they had been taken into custody for their own safety.
Justice Minister Anisul Huq told AFP on Aug 1 that all six had volunteered to be in police custody.
“They came here willingly and they returned willingly,” he said. AFP
