Police detectives have arrested Abu Alam Shahid Khan, a former senior secretary of the Local Government Division during the Awami League government.

On Monday, police said he had been arrested in connection with a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over the recent attack on a “Mancha 71” event at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), which also led to the detention of former minister and freedom fighter Latif Siddique, and journalist Monjurul Alam Panna, among others.

He was apprehended from his home on Sunday night.

Abu Alam was a key organiser of the “Janatar Moncho” movement against the BNP government in 1996. He later served as deputy press secretary to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina from 1996 to 2001.

When the BNP returned to power in 2001, Abu Alam was made an officer on special duty (OSD).

He retired from the Local Government Division in 2015.

After his retirement, Abu Alam briefly worked as CEO of Jamuna Television.

He also sought the Awami League ticket to contest parliamentary elections in both 2018 and 2024.

In recent years, he appeared regularly on political talk shows.