Bangladesh police arrest 500 opposition party members on various charges

By SM Najmus Sakib and Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh police on Thursday arrested around 500 people after formally charging over 2,300 members of the main opposition political party with three separate accounts, including attacking Dhaka police.

Police produced 450 activists and leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) before a local court for alleged attacks on law enforcers during the hours-long clashes in the capital's Naya Paltan area on Wednesday and obtained physical remands of the 14.

Three separate cases have been filed against BNP leaders and activists in connection with clashes with Dhaka police in which one person was killed and several others were injured, a senior police official Arafatul Islam Khan told Anadolu Agency.

Police have charged BNP activists and leaders with assaulting on-duty police officers, unlawful assembly, and storing explosives at the party headquarters, according to Abul Hasan, senior assistant commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's (DMP) Motijheel Zone.

Earlier, the police cordoned off the BNP office in central Dhaka and barred anyone from entering, including party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Police had locked down the entire area since Thursday morning, and no passengers or vehicles were allowed to travel on the main street in the Naya Paltan area, causing heavy traffic jams in other parts of the overcrowded megacity.

Shopping malls and other commercial activities in the area were shut down until evening, but police later allowed people to use the road partially.

"I work in an office at the City Heart Shopping Mall in Naya Paltan. Police did not allow anyone to come to their workplaces, and my office later declared an off day, like most other offices and businesses in the large multistory shopping mall," private job holder Abdul Malek told Anadolu Agency.

Police did not allow anyone to gather near the BNP office until Thursday night (local time) when this report was filed.

Biplop Kumar Sarker, DMP joint commissioner (operations), told reporters that more cases would be filed in connection with Wednesday's incident and that they are treating the BNP office as a crime scene and will not reopen until their investigation is completed.

Later, at a press conference, the BNP general secretary reiterated that the scheduled meeting will take place at the party's headquarters.

He claimed that police had vandalized their office's furniture and valuables, and seized documents. He also demanded an impartial investigation into the death of a member of his party, whom he alleged was killed by police.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that at least 49 policemen were injured in clashes with the BNP activists on Wednesday.

Separately, in a statement, the US Embassy in Bangladesh expressed condolences to the families of those killed and injured in the clashes.

“We are concerned about reports of intimidation and political violence in Dhaka and call on everyone to respect the rule of law and to refrain from violence, harassment, and intimidation,” the statement said.

“We encourage government authorities to investigate these reports of violence and to protect the fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly,” it added.