Dhaka: BNP Chief Khalida Zia is still confined and locked in her office after being surrounded by police on Saturday night.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused her besieged opposition rival of trying to trigger anarchy as security forces clamped down on protests on the first anniversary of her controversial re-election.
After main opposition leader Khaleda Zia accused Hasina of trying to cling onto power by force, the prime minister countered that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief was responsible for a wave of violence that left at least four people dead in the volatile South Asian nation.
The government did not accept accusations of forcible confinement of the former prime minister but maintained that the ‘security measures’ have been put in place as Khaleda faces ‘risk’.
BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also surrounded by Police, while ETV Chairman Abdus Salam was arrested on Tuesday.
Non-stop country wide blockade has started, and more violence is expected. Police cordoned off the office as soon as the BNP-led alliance announced that they would hold a rally on Monday despite the police not permitting them to do so.
Khaleda was reportedly stopped twice from leaving the office on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, the BNP chairperson got into her SUV to leave for a party event but police had locked the gates several hours before that.
“Not only am I prisoner, but the whole of the country is being held captive. What kind of country are we living in?” said Zia after she failed to breach the police cordon.
Failing to leave, the BNP Chairperson announced an indefinite blockade of highways, railways and waterways across Bangladesh.
Police deployment was cut down after Khaleda went back to her office, but it was beefed up again on Tuesday morning.
Members of Armed Police Battalion have been deployed around the office.
Both ends of the street leading to the office have been blocked with police trucks and water cannons. An armoured personnel carrier is parked nearby the BNP Chairperson’s office.
(With inputs from AFP)
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