Bangladesh's deputy opposition chief freed

Police arrested Alamgir and more than 100 BNP officials on suspicion of 'creating anarchy and social disorder.

DHAKA: Bangladesh police released the deputy head of the main opposition party on Tuesday, a day after he and more than 100 officials were arrested in a major crackdown following clashes between supporters and police.

Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman told AFP that acting Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and two other senior members of the BNP  had been released from police custody.

"We've released him," Rahman said, adding that a former mayor of Dhaka city and an ex-cabinet minister - who is also a former air force chief - were also released.

Police arrested Alamgir and more than 100 BNP officials Monday evening on suspicion of 'creating anarchy and social disorder', after storming the BNP headquarters in central Dhaka.

The arrests came following clashes between law-enforcers and thousands of rock-throwing party activists protesting a war crimes tribunal targeting opposition leaders.

The country has been plagued by weeks of deadly unrest stemming from the trials for atrocities committed during the nation's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.

Police said that during the raid on the BNP headquarters they had forced their way into a room and found 10 small homemade bombs.

Following Monday evening's arrests the BNP called a nationwide strike for the following day to protest the police action.

They have pledged another two strike days next week unless all leaders and activists are released immediately.

Security was tight in the capital Tuesday, with about 10,000 policemen and border guards patrolling the strike-hit empty streets.

Motorways were deserted and schools and shops remained closed.

A dozen opposition leaders including two from the BNP and ten from its main ally Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic party, are being tried for war crimes by a state-appointed court.

The country's secular government accuses them of being part of pro-Pakistani militias blamed for much of the carnage in the war, in which the government says three million people died. Independent estimates put the figure much lower.

The opposition accuses the government of staging a witch-hunt.