Latif Siddique arrested 

The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Wednesday arrested former Awami League presidium member and freedom fighter Abdul Latif Siddiqui in connection with a crimes against humanity case over the May 5-6, 2013, Shapla Chattar crackdown, only hours after he had appeared before a Dhaka court and said he would surrender voluntarily.

DB Chief Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said the media that Latif Siddiqui was arrested in the Gulshan area at around 6:30 pm and taken to the DB office.

Earlier in the day, Latif Siddiqui appeared before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in connection with a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Shahbagh Police Station. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, he acknowledged that an arrest warrant had been issued against him in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) case over the Shapla Chattar crackdown.

"I have no intention of going into hiding. I will face the court through legal process," he said, adding that he would surrender before the tribunal next Sunday or Monday if he was not arrested beforehand.

Denying any involvement in the 2013 operation, the former minister said that although he had served in the cabinet at the time, he had no knowledge of the events at Shapla Chattar or the decisions surrounding them.

During the same interaction with journalists, the former lawmaker also rejected attempts to question the officially recognised figure of three million martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, calling such efforts "a distortion of history". 

"The number of martyrs in the Liberation War is established as three million. There should be no debate about it," he said, arguing that the figure included not only those killed in combat but also civilians who died due to genocide, torture and other atrocities committed by the Pakistani occupation forces.

"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman never claimed that all three million were killed only on the battlefield," he said, adding that questioning the figure created opportunities for historical distortion.

On July 27, the prosecution submitted formal charges against 41 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Latif Siddiqui, in the Shapla Chattar case. According to ICT Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam, investigators identified 58 killings linked to the operation against the Hefazat-e-Islam rally in Dhaka and four other districts on May 5-6, 2013.

Siddiqui was previously arrested after he and other speakers came under a mob attack during a discussion on the Liberation War and the Constitution at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on August 28, 2025. He was later shown arrested in a Shahbagh Police Station case under the Anti-Terrorism Act and secured bail from both the lower and higher courts on November 6, 2025, after which he had been appearing before the court regularly.