Three BNP leaders including Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, president of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, the BNP's youth front, were arrested while returning from the party's divisional rally held in Rajshahi on Saturday.

The two other arrestees are Jubo Dal vice president Noor Islam Nayan and Tuku's personal assistant Mokhles.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi confirmed this matter at 11:10 pm Saturday night.

He said that when they reached Dhaka's Amin Bazar area on their way back from the Rajshahi public rally, DB police waylaid and arrested them.

Rizvi strongly condemned and protested this incident and demanded their immediate release.

Read more: Crude bomb blast in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan office

Sources said police have started an arrest drive across the country ahead of BNP's rally scheduled on December 10. A search operation is also underway in the capital.

After the cocktail explosion in front of the BNP central office in the capital’s Nayapaltan on Saturday evening, police arrested several people from there as well, sources added.

BNP's Naya Paltan office has also been kept under police surveillance.

Read more: BNP won't be allowed to orchestrate violence surrounding December 10 rally: Quader