Bangladeshi actor Meher Afroz Shaon arrested on charges of conspiracy against state

"She was taken into custody from Dhanmondi on Thursday night," Additional Police Commissioner (DB) Rezaul Karim Mallik told Dhaka Tribune.

According to the police, Shaon has been charged with conspiracy against the state. She has been taken into custody for questioning regarding the allegations.

According to reports, Shaon has been vocal against "atrocities" in Bangladesh and criticised the Mohammad Yunus government.

Her detention comes hours after her village home in Jamalpur was attacked and set on fire.

Students and locals reportedly torched the house near Norundi Railway Station in Jamalpur Sadar Upazila around 6pm.

The house is the ancestral home of Shaon's father Engineer Mohammad Ali, an Awami League nomination seeker in the 12th national parliament election. Her mother, Begum Tahura Ali, previously served two terms as a member of parliament from a reserved women's seat (1996-2001 and 2009-2014).

In the last general election, Shaon too sought a parliamentary seat from a reserved women's quota as an Awami League candidate.

This comes a day after a mob vandalised and set ablaze the residence of Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The vandalization took place after Hasina appealed to Awami League workers in a virtual address to protest against the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

On Wednesday, protesters arrived at the Dhanmondi 32 area with bulldozers and threatened to raze the house.

However, they decided against demolishing the house and instead broke the main gate, as well as vandalised it before setting fire to the property, The Dhaka Tribune reported.

The attackers said the house was a symbol of "authoritarianism and fascism" and vowed to remove traces of what they called 'Mujibism' in the country.

While carrying out the attack, the mob chanted slogans and demanded the execution of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 last year after massive anti-government protests.

Ahead of the planned protest by the Awami League, several supporters and workers of the party were arrested.

The party had plans to block Dhaka, including the highways, by shutting down Bangladesh's transport system on Thursday.

Bangladesh has been witnessing turmoil since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5 last year.

The Yunus government has repeatedly asked India to extradite Hasina, but New Delhi has extended her visa. Hasina faces many court cases, including some on charges of crimes against humanity.