Police arrested a businessmen in Rajshahi city today, in two cases filed over subversive activities allegedly by BNP activists.

Ariful Islam Samrat, 46, a developer and contractor of different government institutions, was arrested at 4:00pm, said Boalia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Suhrawardi Hossain.

Two plainclothes policemen picked him up by a motorcycle from the city's Dargapa ra area where he was overseeing a project to construct a multi-storey building, said his family.

"He is not the FIR-named accused in any case," the OC said. But his roles were found in the police investigations into at least two subversive acts orchestrated by BNP men.

He was shown arrested in two cases dated October 29 and November 10, he said.

Samrat's family members, however, refuted the allegations against him.

"He was never engaged in any subversive activities, especially with the politics of BNP," said his wife Sudipta Ghosh.

"He has become a victim of intra-party rivalry of the city unit of Awami League," she claimed.

"Samrat has been inactive in politics for the last 10 years," said Salauddin Mintu, joint convener of the city unit of Jatiya Party, adding that Samrat was a treasurer of the unit 10 years ago.