(Adds police seize Hasina's car, computers, documents)

By Anis Ahmed

DHAKA, July 16 (Reuters) - Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina was arrested at her home in the capital on Monday and sent to jail to face extortion charges, her party and court officials said.

Her husband, nuclear physicist Doctor Wazed Ali, was rushed to hospital with cardiac problems shortly after his wife was detained. Local media quoted family sources as saying he was being treated at a city hospital."

The arrest sparked protests by her supporters in several parts of the country, with police firing rubber bullets at demonstrators in Dhaka, witnesses said.

The head of Bangladesh's army-backed interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, said after the arrest that no one in the country was above law.

"Anyone involved in corruption will be tracked down and prosecuted," he said during a visit to a district outside the capital.

Police filed two cases against Hasina in June for extorting 80 million taka ($1.16 million) from two businessmen. Monday's arrest was related to one of those cases.

"She has been arrested on ... charges of extortion and the law will take its own course," Mainul Husein, an adviser to the interim government and head of the law and information ministries, told reporters.

Hasina was previously also accused of other counts of corruption and misuse of power during her term in office from 1996 to 2001. She has denied the charges.

"It's a sheer conspiracy to expel me from politics. Neither myself nor my family were ever involved in any sort of corruption," a lawyer quoted Hasina as telling the court.

Hasina's lawyers said the court had turned down their plea not to detain her, which they said was "unlawful and untenable".

Hasina was driven from the court under tight security to a building declared as a sub-jail on the sprawling compound of the parliament building.

Police later searched Hasina's home, seized her bullet-proof vehicle, two computers and various documents relating to her bank accounts and party publications.

SUPPORTERS CLASH WITH POLICE

Witnesses said Hasina supporters clashed with police in the capital and tried to stop a motorcade taking her to jail.

Police used batons and rubber bullets to drive away the protesters, who were chanting "Release Hasina, release Hasina". At least eight protesters were injured, the witnesses said.

Protests also broke out at Tungipara, Hasina's ancestral home in southwestern Bangladesh, and several other places across the country, local reporters said.

Bangladesh is under a state of emergency imposed by the interim administration, which took charge in January and launched a crackdown on politicians ahead of elections planned for late next year.

More than 170 political figures including Tareque Rahman, the son of Hasina's rival and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, have been detained for graft and abuse of power.

"It is an acid test for the politicians," said professor Ataur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Political Science Association.

Hasina's son said his mother's detention was a conspiracy to remove her from politics.

"I have spoken to my mother. She told me about the police action ... it's part of a deep-rooted conspiracy," Sajeeb Wazed Joy told reporters in Dhaka by telephone from the United States, where he lives.

Authorities tightened security across the country, especially around the offices of Hasina's party, the Awami League.

Students staged small protests at Dhaka University but were driven back by police, witnesses said. Police detained three female protesters at the court premises as they raised anti-government slogans and hailed Hasina.

Hasina and her rival, Khaleda, have alternated as Bangladesh's prime ministers for the past 15 years, and were top contenders for power in the next election.

Khaleda also faces charges of extortion and abuse of power. Her detained son, Tareque, was due to attend a hearing at another court on Monday, but the date was adjourned until Aug. 26, lawyers said. (Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed, Serajul Islam Quadir and Ruma Paul)

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