BNP's grand rally: Another 205 sent to jail
With BNP's grand rally ahead, police have arrested another 205 persons. The arrested include leaders and activists of BNP and its associate organisations as well as suspicious persons. These leaders and activists were arrested over the last 24 hours during raids all over the Dhaka city. They were brought before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court today, Friday. The court issued orders for all of them to be sent to jail.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) sent 129 persons to the court yesterday, Thursday, too, in view of BNP's grand rally. In two days, Dhaka's police arrested 334 in total.
BNP has called for a grand rally in the capital tomorrow (28 October), with its one-point demand for the resignation of the government. With this rally ahead, the law enforcement agencies on Thursday set up check posts at Dhaka's entry points. Vehicles are being stopped before entering Dhaka and the passengers questioned. Many are being arrested. Also, over the past few days, the police have been carrying out operations in various areas of the capital city and arresting leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliated fronts in old sabotage cases.
Sources of Dhaka's courts say that over the past 24 hours, 22 BNP men were arrested from Wari. Another 17 were arrested from by Jatrabari police, 15 by Kafrul police and 19 by Pallabi police.
Another 3 persons were arrested from Gandaria, 6 from Sutrapur, 1 from Cantonment, 3 from Khilkhet, 4 from New Market, 1 from Kalabagan, 3 from Rampura, 1 from Tejgaon industrial area, 1 from Hatirjheel, 3 from Tejgaon, 6 from Adabar, 3 from Mohammedpur, 3 from Ramna, 2 from Shahbagh, 15 from Kafrul, 3 from Motijheel, 1 from Shahjahanpur, 1 from Gulshan, 6 from Badda, 6 from Bangsal, 2 from Kotwali, 6 from Chawkbazar, 10 from Kamrangirchar, 4 from Lalbagh, 18 Kadamtali, 2 from Shyampur, 6 from Hazaribagh, 5 from Uttarkhan, 4 from Demra, 8 from Khilgaon, 2 from Mugda, 10 from Darussalam, and 6 from Shah Ali thanas and taken to the court today, Friday.
'We don't understand politics, just understand survival'
Kamrangirchar thana police last night arrested a young man Ratan. Ratan's mother Jamila Khatun came to the CMM court at 11:00 am to see her son today. She waited and waited till 5:00pm but still couldn't see her son. Jamila Khatun told Prothom Alo, "My son is a rickshaw-puller. He is not involved in politics. Even so, the police picked him up. I went to the police station but they didn't let me see my son."
Ratan's father Abdul Khalil is also a rickshaw-puller. He too didn't get to see his son. He angrily told Prothom Alo, "We are poor people. We do not understand politics. We just understand survival. Yet the police arrested by son in a political case under suspicion. I have no idea how to get my son out on bail."
The families of those who have been arrested like Ratan over the past 24 hours, have been crowding the court premises since the morning. From 12:00pm the police started bringing in the arrested persons to the court by prison van.
An arrested man Zahid Hossain was brought to the court lock-up at 4:00 pm. His wife Nasrin told Prothom Alo, "The police picked up my husband at 10:00 last night. This afternoon they brought him to the court from the police station."
Lawyer of BNP leaders, Taherul Islam, told Prothom Alo, police arrested three persons, including his acquaintance Mahiuddin, when they arrived at Sadarghat by launch from Barishal. Later they showed him to be arrested in a case at Wari police station.