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Published : 30 Jul 2023, 03:32 PM
Eleven cases have been registered in seven police stations in Dhaka in connection with the violent clashes that erupted during the BNP's sit-in protests across the capital.
Nine of these cases were started by the police, while the others were filed by two victims of the clashes.
As many as 469 people are implicated in the cases. Law enforcers have arrested 149 suspects so far, according to Faruk Hossain, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
On Saturday, BNP loyalists blocked the entry points to Dhaka as part of their campaign to oust the Awami League from power and install a neutral government during the upcoming general election. But tensions simmered as BNP supporters clashed with the police in parts of the capital.
The authorities later blamed BNP activists for the clashes, accusing them of hurling improvised bombs at law enforcers and vandalising police vehicles.
"The BNP did not have permission to hold the programmes on Saturday. During these illegal gatherings, they torched buses, vandalised police cars and other vehicles, detonated bombs, and ambushed law enforcers," Faruk said on Sunday.
"As of Sunday afternoon, 11 separate cases in seven police stations have been filed over these crimes. Police have arrested 149 BNP activists in these cases. Efforts are underway to arrest the others.”
Senior BNP leaders Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Amanullah Aman were also detained during the clashes. But they were released after questioning.
Asked if they were implicated in any of the cases, Faruk said, "That will become clear after reviewing the case statements."
Meanwhile, a court has sent Abdus Salam Azad, an organising secretary of the BNP, to jail in connection with a case over the clashes in Dholaikhal.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Farzana Shakila Sumu issued the order after turning down both remand and bail petitions for Azad on Sunday.
The court also granted police permission to question four others in custody for a day in the same case.
They are Abdul Momin, organising secretary of the Jubo Dal's Keraniganj Zinzira Union unit, and party activists Kabir, Sohag Gazi and Md Riyaz Uddin Raju.
As many as 22 people, including Nipun Ray Chowdhury, a member of the BNP’s central committee, were named in the case started by SI Nasir Uddin Hawlader of Sutrapur Police Station, along with around 400 unnamed suspects.
