Amu arrested in the capital

The Detective Branch of police yesterday arrested former industries minister and Awami League advisory council member Amir Hossain Amu in the capital.

He was held from a house in the West Dhanmondi area around 1:30pm, said Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Police said Amu stands accused in at least 15 cases on various charges, including murder.

Amu, also the coordinator of the AL-led 14-party alliance, was elected member of parliament six times from Jhalokathi-2 constituency.

Like many other AL leaders, Amu had been in hiding since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5.

The next day, a joint team of army and police recovered Tk 5 crore in local and foreign currencies from Amu's house in Jhalokathi after a mob set the house on fire.

The money was discovered when firefighters went there to extinguish the blaze. They informed the army and police, who then arrived at the scene and found several pieces of luggage stashed with money.

On August 17, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit instructed all banks to freeze accounts of Amu and his daughter Sumaiya Hossain.

It also asked the banks to block all transactions through the accounts they maintain.