An Awami League leader who had distributed sweets to celebrate the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi in a 1971 war crimes case has been handed over to police in Pirojpur’s Indurkani upazila.

Md Ehsan Hiron is the organising secretary of the Balipara Union Awami League in Indurkani.

He was arrested from the Ghosherhat Bazar area on Saturday night after being caught by locals, said Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Maruf Hossain of Indurkani Police Station.

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Ehsan came under public attention in 2013 after he reportedly distributed sweets in the area following the International Crimes Tribunal’s verdict on 28 February that year, which sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami Naib-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to death for committing atrocities during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

Although the Appellate Division later commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, Ehsan’s public celebration had angered many in the local community, especially in Indurkani, where Sayeedi’s ancestral home is located in Saudkhali village.

Sayeedi, who had served as a Member of Parliament from Pirojpur-1 constituency in 1996 and 2001 under the Jamaat banner, died in prison on 14 August 2023 at the age of 83.

According to locals, Ehsan had gone into hiding following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024.

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On Saturday night, he was spotted at Ghosherhat Bazar where a group of people caught him.

Later, they fed him sweets before beating him up.

On information, police arrived at the scene and rescued Ehsan from the crowd and took him into custody.

OC Maruf Hossain said there are multiple cases against Hiron.