People suffered for the second consecutive day on Friday as law enforcers searched vehicles at entrances to Bangladesh capital Dhaka causing tailbacks and continued raids and arrests across the county in view of today’s opposition rallies.
Many long-route buses were kept off the roads across the country.
Many Dhaka-bound passengers said that they faced police harassments and suffered due to long tailbacks caused by searches at entrances to Dhaka.
Traffic in city streets was thin on Friday amid panic over political face-off between the ruling and opposition parties and security checks.
Law enforcers beefed up security check at Islampur of Dhamrai, Ashulia, Birulia, and Aminbazar of Savar, Dhaka city’s Gabtoli, Demra and Abdullahpur, 300-Feet areas, entrances to Dhaka from Narayanganj and Munshiganj and checked passengers and pedestrians for links with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The police have set up checkpoints at entry points of the capital since Thursday morning and would continue the search until today, said police sources.
A number of Dhaka Metropolitan Police officials said that at least 202 more opposition leaders and activists were arrested in 24 hours till Thursday evening taking to more than 500 the number of such arrests in the capital in October 21–26.
The BNP said that 150 party leaders and activists were arrested between Thursday night and Friday noon taking to 1,350 the number of arrested political activists in the past four days.
The crackdown targeted the rallies of opposition parties scheduled for today to force the government to resign so that the next national election could be held under a neutral administration.
On Friday, police conducted massive searches on Dhaka-bound vehicles setting up checkpoints at various entry points to capital Dhaka.
Police in uniforms and plainclothes were seen to stop Dhaka-bound vehicles and interrogate the passengers about their travels. In some cases, police searched their luggage and mobile phones.
Dhaka-bound people were inquired about their destinations in Dhaka, reasons of the travel and their occupations.
Police were also seen to check national identity cards and mobile phones of people entering Dhaka.
BNP leaders alleged that the law enforcers were conducting the search to bar party leaders and activists from joining Naya Paltan rally as police kept detaining innocent people suspected to have BNP links.
Dhaka district additional superintendent of police for Savar circle Shahidul Islam said that they set up the checkpoints to ensure that no one can enter the capital with firearms and explosive to create chaos as rallies of both the ruling and opposition parties in Dhaka were scheduled for today.
The checks will continue until today, he said, adding that no one was arrested at their checkpoints.
BNP Savar unit general secretary Golam Mostofa alleged that police started raiding and searching houses of BNP leaders and activists in different areas of Savar and Ashulia and arrested a number of activists before the rally.
Police officials, however, said that they arrested seven BNP activists at Savar and Ashulia in different cases filed earlier on violence charges.
According to the BNP, more than 150 people were arrested between Thursday night and Friday afternoon.
The police, however, shared no figure on the recent arrests of political leaders and activists.
Briefing media on Friday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they wanted to hold their rally at Naya Paltan peacefully but police were conducting raids at houses of the party leaders and activists repeatedly and arresting them at every night.
Police raided Pallabi of BNP Dhaka city north unit member secretary Aminul Haque in two consecutive nights, said Fakhrul.
Police are even detaining and harassing the family members of BNP leaders and activists after failing to arrest the leaders and activists, the BNP leader said.
He accused the government of using judiciary for politically motivated prosecutions of BNP leaders.
Police headquarters deputy inspector general for operations Anwar Hossain said that police were not targeting any particular political party, rather discharging their routine duties and arresting people facing warrants of arrest in specific cases.
Rajshahi district BNP leader Golam Mostafa Mamun said that police were searching party leaders and activists, who travelling to the capital to take part in the rally, at various entrances to Dhaka, reported New Age correspondent in Rajshahi.
Echoing Mamun, Natore district BNP convener Shahdul Islam said that police at some points in the capital city were searched the party leaders and activists and checked their mobile phones.
New Age correspondent in Munshiganj reported that police carried out overnight raids at the houses of BNP leaders and activists at Gazaria.
Local Krishak Dal leader Abu Yusuf Iqbal was arrested at his house while Juba Dal leader SM Sohel Sarker was arrested at a police checkpoint at Demra in Dhaka on the way to attend the rally, said the Munshiganj district BNP joint convener Md Mohiuddin Ahmed.
In Narayanganj, police arrested 45 BNP leaders and activists of BNP seven police station of the district in 24 hours till Friday afternoon.
Narayanganj city BNP convener Sakhawat Hossain said that police have been conducting midnight raids at houses of the party leaders and activists.
Police set up checkpoints at Signboard of Fatulla and searched all the Dhaka-bound vehicles and interrogated people.
Chailau Marma, additional SP for crime of Narayanganj, said that police arrested 45 people accused and facing warrants of arrest in previous cases on sabotage charges.
The Rapid Action Battalion beefed up security measures in Dhaka city and adjacent areas ahead of today’s rallies.
New Age correspondent in Pabna reported that 30 more BNP activists were arrested in fresh raids in the district, taking the arrest figure to 70 in the past two days.
Teams of RAB-2 deployed pickups and motorcycles to patrol Mohammadpur, Adabar, Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Newmarket, Hazaribagh, Sherbangla Nagar, Tejgaon and Tejgaon industrial areas of the capital while RAB-4 installed checkpoints at Mirpur, Kazipara, Technical Crossing, Kachukhet, said RAB official media wing director Khankader Al Moin.
New Age
