Dhaka: Claiming that her party’s joint secretary general Salahuddin Ahmed in Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) custody, BNP chief Khaleda Zia on Saturday night warned that the consequences will not be good if the elite force does not  return him to his family unharmed.

‘We’ve information it was RAB members who had picked Salahuddin up and he’s in their custody. I want to tell them that return Salahuddin to his family members or put him back right there from where you had picked him up,’ she said.

The BNP chief was addressing a views-exchanging meeting with newly elected members of Dhaka Taxes Bar Association (DTBA) at her Gulshan office.

BNP and Salahuddin’s family members have been claiming that law enforcers picked him up from a house at Uttara on the night of 10 March, an allegation denied by the law enforcers and the government.

Khaleda reiterated her demand for disbanding RAB, saying the elite force members are involved in incidents of killing, abduction and enforced disappearance of opposition politicians.

At the beginning of her speech, Khaleda dropped a broad hint at overhauling her party. ‘We’ve to revamp our party. We’ve already started the work to this end. Those dedicated, tested, and stood for the party during its bad time will be inducted in committees. They’ll be evaluated.’

She assured that lawyers’ representatives will also be given posts in the committees.

About the recently held city polls, the BNP chief said the government has robbed people’s votes in the elections as it has lost ground beneath its feet. ‘They ensured the victories of their candidates with the help of police and terrorists.’

She expressed her gratitude to the media for properly depicting the election irregularities and vote fraud in the three major city polls.

Referring to Britain’s just concluded national election, Khaleda said, ‘Our Election Commission and other government institutions have many things to learn from their free and fair polls.’

About the submission of charge-sheet against her and 37 others in the Jatrabari bus torching case, the BNP chairperson said the ruling party men carried out the incident when she was confined to her Gulshan office. ‘Chhatra League cadres with police protection hurled the petrol bombs to malign our movement and filed a case against me.’

She urged the lawyers to work together for ensuring the pro-BNP panel’s full victory in the upcoming Bar Council polls to be held on 20 May.