DHAKA, Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) – Two more Bangladeshi politicians including a former minister have been detained as part of the interim government’s anti-corruption drive, officials said Friday. The arrests bring the number detained to 25, ten of whom are former ministers.
The detainees have links to both the main political parties.
Outgoing junior energy minister A.K.M Mosharraf Hossain of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and lawmaker Mufti Shahidul Islam of the Khelafat Majlish party were taken into custody, police and sources said.
The graft crackdown is one of a string of initiatives pledged by the new interim government installed a month ago after president Iajuddin Ahmed stepped down as chief of the previous caretaker government. The head of the new interim government, former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, has pledged reforms including the drawing up of a new voter list and the appointment of new election commission officials.