Detective Branch (DB) police have arrested two Awami League leaders, former upazila chairman Golam Hasnain Russell and his associate Bashir Uddin, in connection with a sabotage case in Bhangura, Pabna. The arrests were confirmed on Tuesday afternoon by Pabna DB Officer-in-Charge Rashidul Islam. Acting on a tip-off, a DB team detained them from Dhaka’s Mirpur area around 3 a.m. on Monday night. Russell is the son of former MP Mokbul Hossain and serves as the general secretary of the Bhangura upazila Awami League, while Bashir Uddin is the party’s forest and environment affairs secretary and owner of Epic Printers.

Local residents alleged that Russell and his brother, along with several influential party leaders, had dominated the area for 16 years, intimidating residents and filing false cases against opposition BNP-Jamaat activists. They were also accused of large-scale corruption in recruitment at educational institutions across Bhangura, Faridpur, and Chatmohar upazilas.

Following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, Russell reportedly fled the area to avoid public anger. After interrogation at the Pabna DB office, police sent him to court, showing his arrest in a case involving a cocktail explosion near a BNP office.