B'desh politician arrested for trying to instigate army revolt

A prominent Bangladesh opposition politician has been arrested and charged for trying to "instigating army revolt", authorities here said today, a day after his family alleged that he was kidnapped.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna has been arrested for trying to instigate revolt by the armed forces, Colonel Ziaul Hassan of anti-crime Raid Action Battalion (RAB) said.
Manna was arrested after his telephonic conversations with a senior leader of ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Sadek Hossain Khoka, and a former army officer became public.
Manna, 62, was picked up yesterday by plain-clothed police officers in Dhaka.
"Manna has been booked under Section 131 of the Penal Code for inciting the armed forces to revolt," Hassan said.

The announcement came as Manna's family earlier alleged some people identifying them as police detectives had abducted him yesterday from a relative's house while police said they did not arrest him and had no idea about his whereabouts either.

Manna is a high-profile TV talk show speaker who also heads a forum called "Nagorik Oikya" or "citizen's unity".
Manna has been kept at the Detective Branch office for subsequent legal procedures after he was charged under the Penal Code for inciting the armed forces to revolt, Dhaka Metropolitan Police told newsmen soon after the RAB announcement.
Manna was reportedly heard discussing means of a military intervention to end the rule of Awami League, a party he once belonged to, in the conversation with a former military officer who assured him of linking him to the senior serving army generals in the country.

Manna's telephonic conversations were made available on the internet on Monday by a number of online news portals and social media.
Manna earlier in a Facebook status claimed his comments were "misinterpreted" in the media while his Nagorik Oikya yesterday at press briefing demanded an end to "propaganda" against him and said leaking out a private conversation was a violation of one's constitutional rights.
A former student leader Manna was Awami League's organizing secretary during 2007-2008 lost his position in a party council in 2009 and three years later he floated the Nagarik Oikya, severing his links with the ruling party, and was visibly shaping up the platform as a political party in recent times.

The country's main opposition BNP party boycotted the 2014 general election and is enforcing the current violent blockade across Bangladesh, demanding fresh polls.
Over 100 people have been killed since the agitation started on January 5. The prime minister has already ruled out the possibility of talks with the agitating BNP-led coalition to end the political deadlock.