19 UP members arrested from 'secret meeting' in Cox’s Bazar

Police arrested 19 union parishad (UP) members, reportedly affiliated with the Awami League, from a residential hotel in Cox's Bazar's Kalatoli area.

The arrests occurred during when the UP members were holding a "clandestine meeting" on Friday night.

According to local sources, the UP members had gathered as part of the Members Association, a group representing members from nine subdistricts of Cox’s Bazar.

The meeting was intended as an open discussion on challenges facing the country and strategies for effective governance, said Zahir Ahmed, a UP member from Teknaf Sadar.

Ahmed said that if the meeting was indeed meant to be secretive, they would not have organized it so openly at a hotel located along the main road.

"We were merely discussing ways to serve the public during difficult times when suddenly police arrived and disrupted our meeting," he said.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) Faizul Azim Noman of Cox's Bazar Sadar police station confirmed that police had acted on information that an "unauthorized" gathering was taking place.

He said that while 70 UP members were reportedly present, only those with pending cases were taken into custody, and others were released.

The police presence reportedly led some tourists to leave the hotel, fearing possible harassment.

During the raid, some local coordinators and unidentified individuals allegedly obstructed journalists who attempted to record the events.

Maheshkhali UP member Salim criticized the police action, condemning the incident as harassment of public officials engaged in a lawful assembly.