Bangladesh: Main opposition leader detained day after intense clashes
Oct 29, 2023
Dhaka [Bangladesh], October 29 : Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been detained by the Detective Branch (DB) on Sunday as tension mounts between the country's governing party and opposition forces ahead of general elections due in January, Dhaka Tribune reported on Sunday.
This comes as Bangladesh witnessed violent incidents on Saturday as police and BNP workers clashed, resulting in the killing of a police officer and a political activist while several others were injured.
The law enforcement officers, including DB personnel, arrived at Mirza Fakhrul Islam's residence in the morning. The BNP leader engaged in a conversation with them. Subsequently, they seized hard disks from both his residences. Ten minutes later, they returned and detained Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
DB Additional Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan Division) Hafiz Al Asad stated that they had apprehended Mirza Fakhrul Islam for questioning, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune.
Meanwhile, police have cordoned off BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas's Shahjahanpur residences.
Simultaneously, the police cordoned off the residences of BNP Standing Committee Members Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Mirza Abbas in Shahjahanpur.
In response to the police's actions in dispersing anti-government protests in Dhaka's Kakrail area on Saturday, the major opposition party, BNP, called for a nationwide strike from dawn till dusk on Sunday.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Secretary General, announced the strike's schedule during the party's rally at Naya Paltan on Saturday, starting at 6 am and concluding at 6 pm, Dhaka Tribune reported.
