Police in Bangladesh's Khulna City have confirmed the detention of 53 activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami on charges of disturbing the peace, sabotaging and anti-government activity.
A Daily Star report said the detentions were done during a ten-hour-long drive on Saturday morning.
The paper quoted Moniruzzaman Mithu, additional commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police, as saying that the detentions were done to prevent a proposed three-day opposition protest in the area from going out of control. He said no senior leaders were arrested during the drive.
