Arrests of Bangladesh's main opposition party members continue ahead of Saturday rally

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Amid the tense political situation in Bangladesh, and just a day before the main opposition party rally in the capital Dhaka, police on Friday arrested more members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and booked around 200 others in the southern coastal district of the country.

Police arrested BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the party's central committee leader Mirza Abbas from their residences in Dhaka late Thursday night.

According to police, five other BNP members were apprehended during raids in the city on Friday.

Dhaka police have already arrested 500 Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists on three separate charges, including assaulting police during clashes near the party's central office on Wednesday.

Both leaders have been arrested on charges of instructing members of the party to attack the police, according to senior police official Harun-or-Rashid, who briefed the media on the latest situation on Friday.

Police also filed a case against 200 BNP leaders and activists on charges of crude bomb blasts at a school ground in the southern coastal district of Babuganj, local media reported.

- Venue for rally approved

Police on Friday finally granted the opposition party permission to hold a public gathering at Golapbag ground in the capital city, rejecting the BNP's demand to hold a mass rally in front of its central office in Naya Paltan.

"I urge all our (BNP) leaders and activists, as well as other parties interested in supporting us in the anti-government movement, to attend Saturday's rally at Golapbag," BNP central leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said at a press conference.

The BNP, along with the majority of other political parties and civil societies, has urged the government to reinstate the three-month non-political caretaker government system in preparation for the December 2023 national election. The ruling Awami League government, however, has rejected the demand, claiming that it would be contrary to the constitution.

Following Wednesday's bloody clashes, in which one person was killed and over 100 others were injured, police cordoned off a significant area in Naya Paltan, effectively paralyzing normalcy in the megacity's central zone and creating a curfew-like situation.

Since then, hundreds of policemen and members of other law enforcement agencies have been deployed in the area, cordoning off the main VIP Street and all adjacent roads with riot cars, water cannons, and prison cars.

Police have also prohibited hundreds of Muslim faithful from attending weekly Friday prayers at the nearby mosque, citing security concerns.

The BNP central office is closed, and no one is permitted to enter.