Former Narayanganj City Corporation mayor Salina Hayat Ivy was arrested in a July uprising murder case early yesterday following a night-long standoff with police at her residence in the city.

The stalemate unfolded after Ivy refused to leave in the dark of the night when a police team arrived at the house in the Deobhog area around 11:30pm on Thursday to take her into custody.

Police then waited overnight as her supporters gathered outside and chanted slogans against the move to arrest her. After nearly six hours, she came out and boarded the police vehicle at dawn.   

Ivy, who was re-elected mayor with the Awami League's ticket in 2022 for a third term, is accused in at least five cases over the killings and attacks during the uprising that ousted the party last year, according to Tarek Al Mehedi, an additional superintendent of police.

Talking to reporters before leaving with the police, Ivy denied any wrongdoing and questioned the arrest, adding that she was unaware of the charges. 

"Am I an oppressor? Have I committed murder, engaged in extortion? Do I have any record of attacking any opposition party in Narayanganj city? Then, for what reason, in whose interest, have I been arrested?" she said.

Noting that the uprising was rooted in the anti-discrimination student movement, she asked, "So, why is this discrimination still here? Then, what is the value of honest politics and integrity?"

Ivy also said police claimed an arrest warrant was issued against her, but could not show any document. "I'm going with them out of respect for the law," she said.

More drama followed as a group of people attacked the police vehicle carrying Ivy on its way to the SP's office around 6:30am.

The attackers hurled bricks and stones, and two crude bombs also exploded when the vehicle reached near the former Grindlays Bank branch on Bangabandhu Road, witnesses said. Police then sped up and left the place.

Ivy was unhurt, but several of her supporters, who were marching behind the police vehicles, and two police personnel were injured in the attack, said Nasir Uddin Ahmad, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station.

A police man was seen being taken to the 300-bed hospital in Narayanganj with serious injuries.

The attackers later brought out a sudden procession in the city, chanting slogans against the Awami League and Ivy.

Her supporters blamed BNP activists for the attack.

Narayanganj city BNP Convener Sakhawat Hossain Khan, who lost to Ivy in the 2016 mayoral polls, said he had no information about anyone from the party or its affiliated bodies' involvement in the attack. "If anyone has done so, organisational action will be taken against them following an investigation."

Later in the day, a Narayanganj court ordered to send Ivy to jail after police produced her in a case filed over the killing of a garment worker named Minarul during the July uprising.

Police did not seek her remand while no bail petition on her behalf was submitted, said Court Police Inspector Kaium Khan.

Ivy, the first woman to become a mayor in Bangladesh, was later taken to Kashimpur Female Central Jail in Gazipur, said Forkan Wahid, jailer of Narayanganj District Jail.