Authorities on Tuesday evening deployed paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the capital Dhaka to manage law and order ahead of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s 48-hour country-wide strike.
Major General Aziz Ahmed, the force’s Director General, told bdnews24.com that they deployed some 20 platoons in Dhaka after 7.30pm to aid police.
“Each platoon has at least 20 border guards and they are patrolling the streets,” he said.
In other sensitive districts, Ahmed said, the BGB had been put on a ‘standby’, ready for deployment if needed.
“Local administrations can deploy them if they feel it necessary,” Ahmed said, insisting that the border guards would be on the streets throughout the shutdown.
The Jamaat-e-Islami called the shutdown protesting the death penalty of one of its top leaders Abdul Quader Molla on war crimes charges.
Molla had been given a life sentence by the war crimes tribunal but the Supreme Court, disposing his appeal, on Tuesday pronounced the death sentence.
Source: Bd news24
