Power cut hits Khaleda 'home'

The Gulshan house that’s been Khaleda Zia’s ‘home’ for a month now during a ruthless anti-government campaign has been experiencing a power cut, an aide claimed early Saturday.

Shamsuddin Didar, a BNP media wing member, told bdnews24.com that “there’s been no electricity since 2:37am” and claimed that it was a deliberate act by the authorities.

“They’ve cut the line,” he said.

She has been staying in the house on Road 86, Gulshan-2, in the heart of Dhaka’s wealthy neighbourhood since Jan 3 midnight. The house, owned by the family of a former BNP MP, serves as the office of the BNP chairperson.

Khaleda Zia opted to stay in the house even after police removed the barriers to its exit roughly two weeks ago.

The nearly four-week-long blockade which she launched from that house early this month has often been bolstered with calls for general strikes.

The latest strike call, made on Friday by a fugitive spokesperson Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, would enforce complete Bangladesh-wide shutdown starting Sunday, the day before 1.5 million teenage students begin their life-defining public examinations.

Rizvi was later arrested by RAB early Saturday morning.