The BNP has threatened to prolong the Opposition’s 72-hour nationwide general strike beginning Sunday if its three senior leaders are not immediately released.
Published : 08 Nov 2013, 10:28 PM
The party’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said this at an emergency press conference at the National Press Club at around 10pm Friday.
He said the arrests was part of the ‘autocratic government’s’ ploy to hold a farcical one-sided election.
“Release them right now; otherwise, our 72-hour shutdown will be toughened and prolonged,” Rizvi told the government.
Police had arrested Standing Committee members Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Mia around 8:15pm from the capital’s Karwan Bazar. They were returning from a programme at the Sonargaon Hotel.
Officials said they were taken to Detective Branch headquarters at Minto Road.
Their arrests came hours after BNP’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir declared the three-day strike in as many weeks after a meeting of the 18-Party alliance in the afternoon.
After the announcement, a large police force had surrounded the Gulshan office and residence of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Two hours into the arrests of the three leaders, Rizvi at the press briefing said, “The government’s decision to detain the senior leaders is autocratic. We deeply condemn this.”