Authorities say police have detained more than 10,000 people in a nationwide anti-crime drive over the past week in Bangladesh.

Police chief Nur Mohammad said the drive was launched last Friday to improve law and order before national elections planned for late this year.

He said Wednesday that more than 1,700 people were detained in the past 24 hours. That takes the number of detainees to more than 10,000.

Political parties say many of the detainees are party activists. They have denounced the drive as being politically motivated.

Bangladesh is being ruled by a military-backed government since January last year. The government has pledged to hold general elections in December this year.