DHAKA, 5 February 2007 — Security forces detained a dozen politicians, seven of them former ministers, in predawn swoops on their Dhaka homes yesterday.

They were the most high-profile figures to be detained since the declaration of a state of emergency on Jan. 11, which followed weeks of street protests and pre-election violence.

An election planned for late January was postponed, and the interim government charged with holding the poll has vowed to root out corruption from politics and the administration.

Those detained in the capital included former Interior Minister Mohammad Nasim and former state minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir of the Awami League. Nasim’s son, Tanmoy Mansur, said his father was taken away by a squad of police and army around 1.30 a.m. “They gave no reason but said the order to detain him came from the top,” Tanmoy said. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) figures detained included former Communications Minister Nazmul Huda and state ministers Ruhul Quddus Dulu, Mir Nasiruddin, Amanullah Aman and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud.

Security officials, requesting anonymity, confirmed the detentions and said the drive would continue as part of the government’s bid to organize a fair, peaceful and credible election.

Security sources said several other influential figures from both parties were also detained. They included Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, a former lawmaker and Khaleda’s parliamentary affairs adviser, and the country’s leading businessman and Hasina associate Salman F. Rahman. Also detained were Naser Rahman, son of Khaleda’s Finance Minister M. Saifur Rahman, former member of Parliament Lotus Kamal and the general secretary of Awami League’s volunteer front, Pankaj Dev Nath. Senior Awami League leader Saber Hossain Chowdhury said the party did not know why its leaders were detained or what were the charges against them.

Police said the politicians were part of a general roundup of 1,438 people across the country in a 24-hour period. The latest arrests took to over 42,000 the number of people detained since the special anti-crime drive got off at the directive of the reconstituted interim caretaker government.

Jubilant processions were taken out in Keraniganj, south of Dhaka, over the arrest of Amanullah Aman, whom the local media has labeled as a “godfather of terrorists.”

— Additional input from agencies