DHAKA - Bangladesh's Army-backed caretaker government has rounded up about 159,000 people since taking power on Jan. 12.

Those in custody include former ministers, lawmakers and business tycoons, China's Xinhua news agency reported Thursday without attribution.

In the latest development, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, a former Bangladesh prime minister and daughter of the country's founder, was accused of murder. Sheikh Hasina, who heads the opposition Awami League party, and other members of her party were accused in the deaths of four people in street violence last year in Dhaka, capital of the largely Islamic country, which was the eastern wing of Pakistan until 1971.

The arrests have been going on under the caretaker government's anti-corruption drive which has also led to the postponement of elections.

Last year's confrontation between the Awami League and the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khaleda Zia led to a declaration of a state of emergency and the appointment of the caretaker government.

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