Police surveillance increased around Khaleda’s office

Police deployment around BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s office has been intensified after a court issued arrest warrants for the former prime minister in corruption cases.

There were greater number of police personnel in front of the office at Gulshan on Wednesday afternoon than in the past days.

A police official posted there, requesting anonymity, said the news of the warrants reached the police stations at Gulshan and Banani.

“That’s why we have strengthened the security. But we are yet to get the court orders [to arrest Khaleda],” he added.

After removing the barricades around the office, Special Branch (SB) members have been regulating the entry there since Feb 11.

Earlier, three SB members used to be deployed in front of the office. From Wednesday afternoon two more SB personnel have been posted in addition to Detective Branch (DB) officials in civvies.

A DB microbus was seen parked in front of the office, too.

Uniformed police personnel took position at the right side of the office on Road-86 at Gulshan-2 and near the barricades on both ends of the street.

Police were seen taking videos of those entering and exiting the office.

The BNP chief has been staying at the office since Jan 3 when police stopped her from leaving it amidst tension over programmes on Jan 5, the first anniversary of the last general election.

Even though the police posse was withdrawn several days later, she has not returned to her home.

The BNP-led coalition boycotted the election held under the supervision of the then Awami League government.

The BNP and its partners demanded an election under a ‘nonpartisan’ caretaker administration. Now they are enforcing an indefinite blockade over the demand.

Khaleda’s Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan, who is also staying in the office with around 50 other officials and leaders, said the BNP chairperson was informed about the arrest warrants.

“We’ve informed (her) about the court order. The lawyers are looking into the matter. They have reacted over the matter and will do so again,” he said.

Dhaka's Third Metropolitan Special Judges Court rejected bail pleas of the BNP chief earlier on Wednesday.

It issued arrest warrants for the former prime minister in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases as she failed to appear in a hearing.