Leaders, activists break into BNP central office in Naya Paltan

They break the lock at the main entrance and enter the office after two and a half months

The BNP supporters have broken into the party headquarters two months and thirteen days after the police-enforced closure.

They gained access to the locked office at 10:42am on Thursday with Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi leading the charge. They shouted anti-government slogans at the time.

“A period of intense repression began with the killing of one of the stalwarts of our Jubo Dal and a senior journalist. Police locked the party office in Naya Paltan after they foiled the peaceful rally on Oct 28. They didn’t allow anyone to enter the office for the last two months and even detained those who approached the office,” Rizvi said.

He said the police took away the keys to the office and ‘staged several dramas’. The media personnel were aware of it.

“This is our favourite office. We asked for the keys but the police never provided us. Now, our activists broke the lock and entered the office.”

While trying to justify their actions, Rizvi explained: ‘‘The BNP is a legitimate political party which successfully governed the nation several times. A mafia government locked the office of that party. Hence, we had to break into it.”

He said the office needed to be cleaned and announced a press briefing will be held by the Standing Committee members at the premises.

Taking a dig at Sheikh Hasina, the senior leader, whom the police had been looking to arrest, said: “The prime minister talks about democracy, But they held the election by themselves.”