Khaleda office siege lifted

Khaleda Zia, under siege since Jan 3 midnight, is apparently free to leave her Guslhan office as police vehicles blocking exit have been removed.

Sumon Mahmud Chief Political Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Jan 2015, 00:52 AM
Updated : 19 Jan 2015, 06:09 PM

Two and half hours past Sunday midnight, the water cannon and the two huge police lorries loaded with construction material, a few pick-ups full of policemen and women left the Road 86 of Dhaka’s wealthy Gulshan neighbourhood.

“Only 3-4 policemen were seen guarding the gate of the BNP chairperson’s office,” a witness said.

“The Road 86 is now open to traffic,” said one on-duty official who did not wish to be named.

Two days after the police enforced the blockade of her office, the BNP chief called for a Bangladesh-wide blockade of roads, rail and waterways. The Jan 5 call marked the first anniversary of the parliamentary election her party boycotted.

She has been demanding fresh elections.

The lifting of the siege, exactly 15 days after police had imposed the restrictions, coincided with her husband’s birthday on Monday.

Ziaur Rahman, who oversaw founding of BNP while still in uniform in 1978, would have turned 79 had he been alive.

Then president who had left the army two years earlier as a three-star general, he was killed on May 30, 1981 at the age of 45 in Chittagong by a group of military officers.