The BNP has called off the shutdown in Dhaka metropolitan for Thursday but said it will enforce the strike in all Upazilas of Dhaka district.“The shutdown will be enforced from 6am to 6pm that day in all Upazilas, except for the metropolitan area. This is our pre-announced programme,” party’s district unit President Abdul Mannan told bdnews24.com on Tuesday night.
Mannan, an advisor to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, said, “The government will have to release the arrested leaders by Wednesday. Otherwise, the shutdown will be observed.”
The lockdown will be in force in Nawabganj, Keraniganj, Dohar, Savar and Dhamrai upazilas, he added.
The BNP had announced the dawn-to-dusk shutdown demanding unconditional release of party Joint Secretaries General Aman Ullah Aman and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque and other leaders who were arrested at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters on Mar 11.
That day police had raided the BNP headquarters and nabbed over 150 leaders and activists within hours of blasts at a rally of the 18-Party alliance organised near the party headquarters. At least seven top leaders were detained from the office.
The following day, the Paltan police had filed two cases against 154 leaders and activists of the opposition alliance and up to 50 anonymous others over the incident.
BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka and former Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury were released after 19 hours of detention. They were exempted from the charges as well.
Police had also sought a total of 17 days’ remand to interrogate Farroque, Aman and Mohammad Shahjahan, DAB General Secretary and BNP Chairperson’s Advisor Dr M Zahid Hossain and party’s Assistant Information and Research Affairs Secretary Habibur Rahman.
They have been accused of instigating the violence.
The Dhaka court had sent them to jail and set the next hearing date for Mar 20.
(Source: bdnews24.com)
Related Posts
