11 cases filed against 547 for police-BNP clashes in Dhaka

The police filed 11 cases at seven police stations for the clashes between the police force and the activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) at several entry points in Dhaka on Saturday.

The police have named 547 as accused in the cases. Of them, 467 were identified. Majority of the accused are local BNP leaders and activists.

These cases were filed for explosives, torching buses, arson, vandalism and attacking the police. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) media centre deputy commissioner Faruk Hossain said 149 of the accused have been detained.

The police are in the process of filing three more cases for the clashes, informed DMP additional deputy commissioner KN Ray Niyati.

According to reliable sources within the DMP, a case has been filed at Kadamatali police station accusing 70 individuals of involvement in the confrontation between the BNP and the police in Matuail. It alleged that the accused individuals attacked the police with weapons and obstructed them from carrying out the government's work.

Two cases have been registered in Jatrabari police station in connection with the clash. In one of the cases, 109 persons, including Dhaka South City Corporation's ward no. 61 councilor Jummon Hossain, have been made accused for setting fire on buses.

All those 109 individuals have been made accused in another case related to the attack on the police.

DMP sources also said that two cases have been registered in Uttara West police station in connection with Saturday's clash in Uttara. These two cases have been filed on charges of assaulting the police and obstructing government work.

In another case, 14 individuals including Gias Uddin Sarkar, president of Gazipur city BNP, have been made accused while 16 other individuals have been made accused in a separate case.

Police lodged a case at Sutrapur police station in connection with the clash and attack on the police in Dholaikhal area on Saturday. A total of 24 people, including the organising secretary of Central Jubo Dal, Abdus Salam Azad, have been made accused in the case.

Apart from this, a case has been filed at the airport police station for assaulting the police in which 80 unknown persons have been made accused.

A case has been filed in Bangshal police station where 25 people have been made accused over the clash on Saturday.

Three cases have been filed at Uttara East police station regarding the clash, with a total of 100 individuals being accused in the cases.

BNP organised a grand rally at their central office in Naya Paltan in the capital on Friday. During this rally, they announced a sit-in programme at various entry points of Dhaka on Saturday.

Subsequently, clashes erupted between BNP leaders, activists, and the police at different locations in Dhaka during the sit-in programme. In some places, leaders and activists of governing Awami League and its front organisations also swooped on the de facto opposition leaders and activists.