The two others are Mahmud Hasan Babul, a personal staff of Hasina, and Sarwar Hossain, president of Canada unit of AL.

In a statement, JP Chairman HM Ershad said the people heaved a sigh of relief when the drive against criminals and corrupt people was launched, but incidents of arrest of peace-loving and law-abiding people would hamper the main objective of the drive.

The arrest of the three would create confusion in the minds of the people as there were no allegations against them, he added.

In a separate statement, Dhaka city AL Acting President AKM Rahmat Ullah and General Secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said the arrest of Awlad, Babul and Sarwar has dismayed the people.

They urged the authorities not to harass the law-abiding people and demanded immediate release of the three.

In another statement, Ershad urged the caretaker government not to change the weekly holiday from Friday to Sunday, saying that the move to change the weekly holiday would hurt the people's religious sentiments.

Rather, weekly holiday on Saturday can be cancelled, he suggested.

Opposing the proposal of businessmen to set Sunday as the weekly holiday for the expansion of business, Ershad said business would get a boost if political stability returns, good governance is established and corruption and crimes are uprooted.