AMN/ WEB DESK
General Secretary of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir and the party’s Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas were arrested on Friday ahead of a BNP rally scheduled to be held on Saturday, December 10. The police produced them before a court in Dhaka in a case filed over Wednesday’s clashes between BNP supporters and the police in front of the BNP office in Nayapaltan area of Dhaka in which one person was killed and several injured including some policemen. The court denied bail to them and ordered them to be sent to jail. The police had detained them from their homes early in the morning and brought them to the police station for questioning which continued for several hours.
Earlier, on Thursday police had arrested some of the top leaders of the BNP including Amanullah Aman, Abdus Salam, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, Shimul Biswas and former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president Abdul Kader Bhuiyan in connection with the clashes
Meanwhile, the BNP agreed to hold its rally at Golapbagh field after protracted talks with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) about the venue. BNP wanted to hold its rally on the road in front of its office in the Nayapaltan area but police did not allow it. BNP supporters have started trickling in at the rally-venue even as its top leaders have been arrested and cases filed against several hundred people in connection with the clashes that took place on Wednesday.
While the political tussle rages on, a sense of apprehension prevails in the capital city Dhaka. Malls have deployed extra security at their premises and made special arrangements for crowd control but normal life is continuing in the city. Ruling Awami League supporters brought out processions in support of the government in some parts of Dhaka.