Over 800 BNP leaders, activists sent to jail in Dhaka in two days

More than 800 BNP leaders and activists have been sent to jail in Dhaka in two days before their rally in the capital on Friday.

Some of them were arrested in old cases over violence while some others were detained for suspicious activities, court police said.

Md Iqbal Hossain, a BNP-backed lawyer and former president of the Dhaka Bar Association, said he represented 152 of the arrestees.

According to his estimation, around 1,000 accused have been sent to jail.

Around 750 BNP leaders and activists from various police stations in Dhaka were taken to court and subsequently sent to jail, said Mohiuddin Chowdhury, a leader of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum.

Around 345 leaders and activists were jailed in Dhaka on Friday after facing court proceedings at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court and Chief Judicial Magistrates’ Court.

The day before, on Thursday, 473 BNP leaders and activists were sent to jail.

Pro-BNP lawyers filed bail applications for the leaders and activists, but the courts rejected their pleas and ordered police to send them to jail.