Police detained BNPs Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi hours before the Oppositions 72-hour transport blockade throughout Bangladesh began on Saturday. A Dhaka court sent him to jail until further hearing on his bail petition and the police remand plea on Dec 4. The police had picked Rizvi up early on Saturday after a raid on the BNPs Naya Paltan headquarters. Rizvi was the only BNP leader staying back at the party central office throughout the Oppositions previous shutdowns and blockades. The BNP alleged the police had damaged the party office. Party chief Khaleda Zias advisor and Bangladesh Bar Councils Vice Chairman Khandker Mahbub Hossain described it as an assault on democracy. Rizvi is eighth senior BNP leader to land in jail amid the partys ongoing movement for a non-party caretaker to supervise the national polls. Communications Minister Obaidul Quader has urged the BNP to join the all-party interim government hinting the top leaders would be released if the Opposition reaches an agreement with the government. Police have implicated Rizvi in an arson case at Shahbagh on the last day of the Oppositions 71-hour blockade. Two of the 18 people had died of burns sustained during the attack last week. Rizvi and BNPs central executive committee member Belal Ahmed had been staying inside the partys headquarters which was cordoned off by the police. The joint secretary general had been briefing journalists and taking part in various television shows from there. He had announced the latest spell of 72-hour blockade on Friday night. The Raid Rizvi was last seen outside the party headquarters on Nov 8 after arrests of three BNP Standing Committee members. Since then, he was holed up in the party office then. Several security measures by the BNP staff, like installing a special shutter, could not deter the police from carrying out the dramatic raid. Several detective policemen scaled the building with the help of ropes and ladders around 4:15am. BNP office staff Abdul Gaffar said a police team in civvies first broke into the buildings first floor. Rizvi was sleeping on the second floor. They didnt even allow Mr Rizvi to change clothes and behaved rudely with him, he alleged. The BNP leaders clothes were seen scattered in the morning. BNPs office staff alleged police had broke into and vandalised the rooms of party chief Khaleda Zia, Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, and acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Rizvi and Belal were taken to detective polices Minto Road office. The Silence Police have been tight-lipped since the beginning about the raid and reason for the arrests. Nearly seven hours after the raid, Dhaka Metropolitan Polices (DMP) Assistant Commissioner Abu Yusuf confirmed the arrests to bdnews24. He had declined comments when asked if Rizvi was arrested for his role in the Shahbagh arson case. Police had kept mum after the arrests of Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Abdul Awal Mintoo, and Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas. They were later shown arrested in two shutdown-related cases. Nearly an hour after Yusufs comment, DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman said Rizvi had been arrested in the Shahbagh arson case. Police had allegedly locked off senior correspondent of Ekattor TV Shafique Ahmed and senior correspondent of GTV Gausil Ajam Dipu, in a room at the BNP headquarters during the raid. They had damaged equipment of the TV crews, alleged the BNP. Police, however, have not commented on the matter. Explosions rock court hearing Rizvi was taken to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashiqur Rahman for a hearing at around 4pm. Five explosions took place at the courts entrance 15 minutes later. The perpetrators could not be identified. Police have blamed Opposition activists for the explosions. Shahbagh Police Stations Inspector MA Jalil was moving a plea seeking a 10-day remand for Rizvi. State counsel Sajjadul Haque Shihab argued interrogating Rizvi was key to identifying the perpetrators and source of the Molotov cocktail hurled at the bus at Shahbagh. The defence sought the BNP leaders bail. Rizvi is not involved with instigation or sabotage and he was not named as an accused in the case, argued Salaullah Mia. He said the ailing BNP leader only briefed the journalists at the partys headquarters and published lists of people injured and killed across Bangladesh during the Opposition movement. The court adjourned the hearing due to the absence of case documents and ordered Rizvi to jail. A hearing would take place on Dec 4 over police remand plea and Rizvis bail petition. Several BNP-affiliated lawyers had gathered outside the courtroom and chanted slogan demanding Rizvis release. Democracy trampled In his immediate reaction to the arrests, BNPs Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed told bdnews24 the police had intruded into the party office, arrested two leaders and vandalised the office. Around noon, a delegation headed by Khandker Mahbub Hossain went to the BNP central office. “What we witnessed here today (Saturday) in the name of democracy does not happen even in a barbaric society,” he told reporters. Police prevented the delegation from entering the office. The leaders and journalists were let in only after heated exchanges between the police and the delegation. The chairs of the Opposition Leader and the partys acting secretary general had been vandalised. It is a blot on democracy, he said. We condemn such incident. BNP office staff apprised Khandker Mahbub of the whole incident. He was told that police had broken the door to enter the office and ransacked several rooms on the first and second floors. Salahuddin, who had been acting as the partys spokesperson since Rizvis arrest, said the incident only highlighted the Awami Leagues old trait. He, too, is accused in the Shahbagh arson case. The spokesperson claimed the government had resorted to oppressing the Opposition as it is afraid of the ongoing mass uprising. All the dictators in history were ousted through mass movements, he said comparing the Hasina government with autocrats.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 16:16:55 +0000
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