Three members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's highest policymaking committee - Moudud Ahmed, M K Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia - were arrested by plainclothesmen here overnight. They were taken into custody while returning home after the anniversary celebration of a newspaper.
Later, police detained BNP chief Khaleda Zia's adviser, business tycoon Abdul Awal Mintoo, and her special assistant Shimul Biswas.
Dhaka's Metropolitan Magistrate Zainab Begum rejected the bail applications of the BNP leaders and sent them to jail. The court adjourned the matter till Thursday.
The arrests added to tensions between the main opposition BNP and the ruling Awami League.
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To protest the arrest of the five leaders, the BNP extended the 72-hour shutdown beginning tomorrow by 12 hours, saying the strike would continue until Wednesday evening.
Angry opposition activists took to the streets, setting several vehicles afire and exploding crude bombs. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
BNP alleged police carried out midnight raids at the homes of several influential party leaders who went underground to evade arrest.
Earlier, police sought 20-day remand for the five BNP leaders, alleging they were involved in an attempt to kill policemen and create unrest in Dhaka. The five leaders were shown as being arrested in two separate cases.
Last night, Information Minister Hassanul Haq Inu said the government was forced to arrest the BNP leaders in a "extraordinary situation".
The BNP-led alliance called the first 60-hour shutdown from October 27 and second one from November 4 to press for the restoration of the neutral caretaker government system to oversee the polls scheduled to be held by January 25, 2014.
A total of 26 people have died in violence linked to political turmoil since October 25.