Police detain Rizvi, Annie after violent clashes over Dhaka rally

07 December 2022

---

Online Desk :

Police have cordoned off BNP’s headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan after clashes between law enforcers and party activists ahead of the party’s divisional rally in the capital.

Several BNP leaders, including the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Publicity Secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, former JCD president Abdul Kader Bhuiyan Jewel and Khaleda Zia's Special Assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, were among dozens detained by police from the scene. But the law enforcers have not officially confirmed their detentions, reports bdnews24.com.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir rushed to the scene after hearing the news of clashes but police stopped him from entering the party’s headquarters.

Nearly 2,000 BNP leaders and activists are trapped in the office and many of them fell sick after the clashes, but police are not allowing them to leave the building, Rizvi had said prior to his arrest.

Tensions have brewed surrounding the party's upcoming rally in Dhaka. On Wednesday, activists from the party began gathering at its central offices.

The activists blocked the road in front of the party offices chanting slogans, witnesses said. Police personnel were deployed on nearby roads as well. Around 3 pm, the two sides clashed.

When police charged at them, BNP activists began throwing brickbats. Police then used rubber bullets and teargas shells to try and disperse the crowd.

A man has died of his injuries in the clashes. Several people were brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital from the Naya Paltan area with injuries following the clashes.

“Doctors say one of them, 30-year-old Akbar, has died,” said Inspector Bachchu Miah, chief of the hospital’s police outpost.

He had a bullet wound on his body, the inspector said.

Three others injured in the incident have been identified as Rony, Monir and Iqbal. They were admitted to the hospital.

Bachchu could not say whether the injured people were BNP activists.

No venue has been set for the Dec 10 rally yet, said Md Hayatul Islam Khan, deputy commissioner from the Motijheel Division of police.

Despite this, activists from the party blocked both sides of the road near its Naya Paltan headquarters on Thursday, he said.

Khan said they made several requests for the activists to leave the road, but they did not do so. When police attempted to remove them, the BNP activists began throwing brickbats at them.

That is how the clash started, he said. He added that several police personnel were injured in the incident.