BNP leader Rizvi, over 100 others detained

They were taken to police custody around 5:30pm on Wednesday

The police have arrested BNP senior joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi from the party's Naya Paltan office in Dhaka on 7 December, 2022.Prothom Alo

The police have detained BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and more than 100 other activists from the party headquarters in the capital’s Naya Paltan area.

They were taken to police custody around 5:30pm on Wednesday.

The incident came following a clash that erupted between the BNP men and the cops around 3:00pm and left one dead.

Later, the police conducted an operation at the BNP headquarters around 4:15 pm and arrested the party’s senior joint secretary general Rizvi, its publicity secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie and chairperson’s special assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas.

The BNP leaders and activists started gathering in front of the party office in the morning. The gathering, at one stage, became so large that one side of the road was about to be blocked.

The clash broke out when the policemen took an attempt to disperse the crowd. There were incidents of chase and counter-chase in the area, which prompted the police to fire shotgun shells and teargas.

When the police tried to remove them, a clash started between the two sides. At one stage, the police fired shotguns and tear gas shells.

Mirza Fakhrul came to the spot around 4:30 pm after the police started the drive in the BNP office. They shut the collapsible gate and prevented the BNP secretary general from entering the office. He then sat in front of the office.

Later, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and other leaders were arrested from the office.

Apart from the central leaders, more than a hundred BNP men were seen to have been arrested from the spot. Also, the police took away two trucks from the party office premises that were used to carry out campaigns ahead of the 10 December rally.