DHAKA, May 28: Bangladesh’s most recent home minister Lutfozzaman Babar was arrested on Monday by police and armed forces as part of the emergency government’s corruption crackdown, officials said.

In addition to Babar the general secretary of the former main opposition Awami League party Abdul Jalil was arrested, a senior police official confirmed on condition of anonymity.

Babar held ministerial office until last October when a coalition government led by prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party stepped down at the end of its five-year tenure.

Babar's personal secretary Iqbal Hossen said the former minister was arrested at his Dhaka residence.—AFP