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Police have detained three coordinators of the student protests for reforms to government job quotas from a hospital in Dhaka.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, however, says they are in custody for the sake of their security, reports bdnews24.com.
Plainclothesmen picked up Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Majumder from Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital on Mirpur Road on Friday night.
They were being treated for injuries from alleged torture in custody during the protests but the law-enforcing agencies had denied holding them in captivity.
Harunor Rashid, chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, admitted to detaining them on Friday night for “the sake of security and questioning”. They were kept at the DB headquarters for the night.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman later said at a press conference: “So far I know, they feel insecure. They thought some people giving them advice were threatening them.”
“So, we think it is necessary to know who are threatening them. This is why they have been called,” he added.
The minister also said the situation was getting normal after waves of deadly violence and clashes during the protests for nearly a week.
The ongoing curfew will be lifted once the situation completely normalises, he said and added that the next decision on the restrictions will be announced on Saturday.