Police cordon off BNP headquarters for second day

Barricades have been placed in front of the party’s central offices and armoured vehicles and prison vans are on standby

The police have cordoned off the BNP’s headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan and put up barbed barricades at the Nightingale intersection and the Fakirapool intersection for the second day.

Security measures at the scene have been strengthened to ensure law and order, police officials say.

The gate to the BNP’s central offices is closed, with two security guards inside. They say nobody else is in the office and that they are on duty.

There are eight alleys on either side of Naya Paltan road. The gates to the alleys are closed and pedestrians have been barred from entering them.

Large crowds have formed on either side of the barricade. Some commuters and others taking their children to school are asking the police for permission to pass through. Law enforcers have allowed some to pass, but are turning others away.

The road is largely empty otherwise.

Police are not allowing anyone, aside from journalists, to stay on the road. Police are on guard in the alleys as well.