Sitting by a road near the detention ward (hajat) of the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM), Dhaka, last Thursday the riddle Mukter tried most to solve was how to procure the next meal for his grandsons Redoy, 8, and Murad, 5, 15-month-old granddaughter Dipu and eight months pregnant daughter-in-law Sajeda Begum. The family is utterly bankrupt.

Another issue that defeats him is how to keep their shanty-home on Madrasa Goli in Rayerbazar, as the landlord has been threatening to oust them unless they come up with the last month's rent. Sajeda said on Wednesday the shanty-owner issued an ultimatum to pay up the rent or face eviction.

"What will I do with the children, how will I feed them?" Sajeda wondered, with tears welling up in her eyes and Murad tugging at her sari asking for food.

After police arrested his only son, Mohammad Monir, on September 21, the first day of the latest blanket arrests across the country, Muktar made a last-ditch effort to raise some money by mortgaging his last piece of land in Chengatia village under Agailjhara upazila in Barisal. But his hopes were dashed, as no-one took the 10-katha plot, which is inundated by floodwater.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Mostafa of Mirpur Police Station arrested Monir, 40, a CNG-run autorickshaw driver, and his three passengers at Darus Salam on their way to Mirpur Section-1 at around 7:30pm on the day. The SI also filed a case alleging them to be members of a gang that mugs using sedatives on its victims, family members of the arrestees said.

Two of the passengers arrested -- Rony, 24, and Noor Islam, 20, -- were returning home in Mirpur after finishing their shifts at a garment factory in Savar. The other arrestee, Jayed, 30, also a CNG driver, was having a lift to Mirpur from Gabtoli.

Rony and Noor showed their identity cards but that were not enough evidence to convince the SI of their innocence.

Talking to The Daily Star near the CMM court premises a relative of one of the arrestees said, soon after the arrest, the police SI exacted Tk 500 from Sajeda and Tk 4,000 each from relatives of Rony and Noor in bribes for their release. Sajeda and Rony's brother forthwith confirmed the bribery.

The owner of the autorickshaw paid Tk 5,000 in bribes to get his three-wheeler back, they said.

Though the government claims the arrests are a part of the regular anti-crime drive, many of the people held are neither criminals nor partisans. Ramna police have arrested a young banana vendor in Siddheshwari area while Motijheel police a guava seller, Kamrul, 20, at Motijheel suspecting his involvement in mugging.

"Police arrested my innocent brother and now are demanding Tk 3,000 for his release," alleged Kamrul's sister Rashida at Motiheel Police Station on Thursday.

A large crowd was seen at the CMM court hajat gate carrying water containers and dried food for their relatives whom police picked up from different parts of the city for suspicious movements, immoral activities, vagrancy and under regular cases like murder, extortion, theft, robbery, bomb explosion and arms recovery.

Talking to The Daily Star most of those at the gathering claimed the arrestees are innocent and falsely implicated in cases, though they are not named in the first information reports of the cases. Some of the detainees, on the other hand, claimed to be opposition political activists while many others had no political affiliation.