Police in the Bangladeshi capital arrested a top aide to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Monday, media reports said. Hannan Shah, a former minister and a senior member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was picked up from his residence and taken to a police station, the private Bangla Vision television said. ShahÂ’s son, Rezaul, was also taken into custody, the United News of Bangladesh news agency said. No further details were immediately available. Extortion cases were recently filed against Shah and his son in their Kapasia hometown near the capital, Dhaka, police said earlier. Shah also faces several other corruption charges. But it was not immediately clear on what charges Shah and his son were arrested Monday.
BangladeshÂ’s army-backed interim government has been cracking down on corruption, arresting dozens of senior politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, since taking over in January. Zia was the South Asian nationÂ’s elected leader until October, when she ended her five-year term and handed over power to a caretaker administration to hold new elections in January.
But following weeks of violent street protests by opposition parties, led by ZiaÂ’s main rival, Sheikh Hasina, the countryÂ’s president canceled the elections, declared a state of emergency and appointed a new interim government. The government has denied media reports that it was restricting ZiaÂ’s movements and trying to force her into exile abroad.