Hours after a court in Bangladesh ordered a murder investigation against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and top officials in her government on Tuesday, her advisor and former law minister were arrested in Dhaka, reported the Dhaka Tribune.
According to the report, former law minister Anisul Huq and Hasina's advisor Salman F Rahman were arrested while they were attempting to flee by waterway from the Sadarghat area of the capital." The arrests have been made in connection with two murder cases registered at the New Market police station.
Two people were killed in a clash in front of the Dhaka College on July 16, during the student uprising against the Hasina-led government.
According to police sources cited by the report, Salman and Anisul have been named as instigators of these murders.
Salman F Rahman, one of the country's leading businessmen, was elected as an MP from the Dhaka-1 (Dohar-Nawabganj) constituency in the 12th National Elections before he went on to become the advisor of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Anisul Huq was first elected as an MP from the Brahmanbaria-4 (Kasba) constituency under the Awami League in 2014. He had since been heading the law ministry until the nationwide protests led by students overthrew the Hasina-led government.
Notably, Rahman and Huq were arrested hours after a Bangladeshi court opened an investigation into the murder of a grocery store owner who was shot dead on July 19 by Sheikh Hasina's police during a violent crackdown on protesting civilians.
The case names Hasina and six top officials in her government including former home minister and the general secretary of Awami League party.
Sheikh Hasina had fled the country amid violent protests demanding her resignation while members of her cabinet and top party leaders of the Awami League has since then been in hiding.
Hasina has been provided refuge in India while the UK rejected her appeal for asylum and the US revoked her official visa.