366 BNP leaders, activists held

Police have conducted drives in several areas of the capital and detained 366 leaders and activists of the BNP, a source at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has said.

The drives were conducted on Wednesday night, centring on the BNP's upcoming rally, according to the source.  

More than 50 leaders and activists of the party were arrested from Midway Hotel near the BNP's central office in Nayapaltan, BNP claims. However, the Police did not officially disclose the number of BNP men detained.

A DMP source said at around 2:30pm on Thursday that the law-enforcement agency has detained 411 people, among whom 366 are BNP leaders and activists. Meanwhile, 75 BNP men were detained on Tuesday night.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint general secretary of BNP, has alleged that attacks on leaders and activists and arrests of party men are continuing across the country ahead of the grand rally in Dhaka.

At a press conference at BNP's central office in Nayapaltan in the capital on Thursday afternoon, he said more than a thousand BNP men were arrested in the capital.

Rizvi said, "I strongly condemn such actions of the police against the freedom to hold rallies as a part of democratic practice given the upcoming polls, and demand the immediate release of the arrested leaders and activists."

/KN/