Police have detained BNP Standing Committee members Moudud Ahmed, MK
Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia, hours after the 18-Party alliance
declared a 72-hour nationwide shutdown starting from Sunday.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman
confirmed their detention on Friday night, but declined to say
anything further.
The law enforcers, meanwhile, had surrounded the Gulshan office of BNP
Chairperson Khaleda Zia since the afternoon.
Moudud’s APS Shahidul Islam said the BNP MP was at Karwan Bazar when
police came and whisked him away. He attended a programme at the
Sonargaon Hotel at the evening, Islam said.
“Police stopped his car around 8:10pm when he was on his way home and
took him to a SUV and went towards the DB headquarters.”
Anwar’s PS Bashir Ahmed said the two other senior leaders were also
detained when they were returning from the same event.
After a meeting of the BNP-led opposition coalition at Khaleda’s
office at Road No. 2 in Gulshan-2 earlier in the day, acting Secretary
General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the three-day general
strike from Sunday to Tuesday.
As the alliance leaders left the office, a large police force was
reinforced on the streets around the Opposition Leader’s office at
around 5pm.
DMP’s Gulshan zone Assistant Commissioner Nurul Amin told bdnews24.com
that police presence had been beefed up around Khaleda’s office and
residence ‘for the sake of her security’. – bdnews24.com
