Police yesterday temporarily shut down a stall at the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela following an altercation over books by feminist writer Taslima Nasrin.

The incident took place around 6:15pm at the stall of Sabyasachi Publication in the Suhrawardy Udyan.

Witnesses said a group of people gathered in front of the stall around 6:15pm and demanded the removal of Taslima's books. At that time, a person inside the stall protested the matter, leading to a heated exchange. At one point, the two sides started shouting slogans.

Later, police went to the spot and covered the stall with a tarpaulin.

The Sabyasachi stall has been at the centre of discussion since Sunday when multiple posts on social media called for the demolition of a book stall at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, alleging that it was promoting atheism.

Shahbagh Police Station Inspector (operations) Delwar Hossain told The Daily Star that they took a person into their custody.

He did not disclose the person's identity, saying that further details would be provided later.

Prof Mohammad Azam, director general of Bangla Academy, confirmed that the police closed down the bookstall in the evening to maintain law and order.

He said a meeting of the book fair organising committee under the Bangla Academy was ongoing regarding the incident.

"After hearing about the incident, we spoke with the law enforcement agencies. A Bangla Academy taskforce is working on the matter. Action will be taken based on its observations," he added.

Meanwhile, leftist student organisations, including Bangladesh Chhatra Union and Biplobi Chhatra Maitri, brought a procession from the Bangla Academy stall to the Sabyasachi stall protesting its closure.

At a brief rally in front of the stall, they called for security for the stall and demanded its reopening by Tuesday.

They said, closing book stalls is equivalent to hindering freedom of speech or expression.

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has strongly condemned the recent mob attack on the bookstall, calling it an affront to the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and the country's laws.  In a statement, he denounced the violence, emphasising that it goes against the open-minded spirit of the book fair, which honours the language martyrs of February 21, 1952, according to the CA's press wing.