The government, following their premeditated plan, has shifted Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman from the political custodians of the government to the custody of police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), they said.

The leaders said this while attending the 14-party divisional grand rally in Barisal yesterday.

Abdul Jalil, general secretary of AL, said the government is staging scenes of a drama one after another. Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman are the creations of four-party alliance government who is now staging the drama to misguide people, he added.

Tofail Ahmed, presidium member of AL, said AL demanded the arrest of Bangla Bhai when he was killing and torturing people in Rajshahi but the government had denied even the existence of Bangla Bhai. The government had told people Bangla Bhai was the media's creation.

Rashed Khan Menon, Workers Party president, said it appears militant kingpins were arrested before every grand rally of the 14-party alliances. They (the militant kingpins) had been in their (government's) custody all along and are now being brought out one by one, he added.

Hasanul Huq Inu, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president, said the government had all along been aware of their locations and presence and the arrests are part of a government play.

Fazle Hassan Badsha, mayor candidate of Rajshahi City Corporation and politburo member of Workers Party, said he had demanded the arrest of Bangla Bhai first from Rajshahi. The government did not listen to him, on the contrary, the administration protected Bangla Bhai and the police provided protection to his processions, he said.

He however said these arrests should not be viewed negatively and it was necessary to find out the forces behind them.