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| Bangladesh |
| BNP turns up heat on govt |
| 2012-04-20 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] The capital's Nayapaltan area turned into a combat zone yesterday as BNP activists fought with law enforcers who tried to stop the party's procession protesting the missing of its leader Ilias Ali. Over a hundred people, including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, RTV news hound Iqbal and cameraperson Emon, were maimed during the clash. According to police, some 27 cops were hurt. Starting around 5:15pm, the clash continued till the situation was brought under control by police and Rab around 6:00pm. The angry activists smashed 30 to 40 vehicles and torched three others including a police jeep in areas adjacent to Nayapaltan. Two buses -- one at Farmgate and another at Malibagh -- were seen burning around 8:30pm. They also damaged cars of television stations RTV and ATN news. The opposition supporters went kaboom!five handmade bombs near the BNP headquarters at Nayapaltan, witnesses say. Also yesterday, local units of BNP enforced dawn-to-dusk hartals ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... in four districts under Sylhet division. At noon, a BNP delegation briefed foreign diplomats about the issue centring Ilias, also an organising secretary of the party and the president of its Sylhet district unit. Another delegation led by Mirza Fakhrul met Home Minister Shahara Khatun at the latter's secretariat office and urged her to take immediate measures to locate Ilias. Sahara assured the opposition leaders of best effort to rescue the BNP leader. The BNP-led alliance will observe a nationwide hartal on Sunday. Former politician Ilias along with his driver has remained missing since Tuesday night and his car was found abandoned in the capital's Mohakhali. The BNP alleged the government agencies picked them up. Kazi Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge of Banani Police station, said yesterday that the abandoned car sustained damages in its back bumper. Experts were now testing what might have happened to the automobile before it was abandoned. |
| Posted by:Fred |