Police have detained hundreds of BNP workers in a raid on their headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan, which left one person dead and several injured in clashes ahead of the party’s December 10 rally.
About 10 prison vans filled with opposition activists left the party office on Wednesday evening and sporadic sounds of tear gas shells and gunfire were still heard in the area. Harunor Rashid, head of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, later put the number of detainees at over 300.
General secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir staged a sit-in outside the party office after being stopped by law enforcers from entering the headquarters from where police claimed to have recovered crude bombs.
He alleged that the clashes and subsequent raids were part of a plan to sabotage his rally. “I feel such cruel and tragic incidents cannot happen in a civilized country.