Bangladesh Police arrested more than 400 pro-hartal leaders

Over 400 pickets arrested during shutdown

          Bangladesh Police arrested more than 400 pro-hartal leaders and activists till 6 pm on Sunday from across the country as the first 12-hour of the opposition sponsored 36-hour marathon hartal passed off almost peacefully in the capital and other major cities and towns.

        Bangladesh Police Headquarters sources told UNB that of the total arrests, 123 were in the capital and 284 from outside the capital.
       58 pro-hartal pickets were each sentenced to one month’s jail by mobile courts on charge of obstructing police from performing their duty. Besides, 15 others were sentenced by mobile courts elsewhere in the country.

           BNP, however, claimed that police have so far arrested over 700 opposition leaders and workers from across the country.

          BNP vice-chairmen - ex-Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and ex-Water Resources Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed, assistant information and research secretary of BNP Habibur Rahman Habib, Jubo Dal senior vice president Abdus Salam Azad and joint secretary Mahbubul Islam Swapan, and Krishak Dal leader Shahjahan Mia Samrat were among those arrested.

         BNP alleged that about 40 leaders and workers, including BNP cultural affairs secretary Gazi Mazharul Anwar, JASAS president MA Malek and general secretary Monir Khan, rhymester Abu Saleh, singers Baby Naznin and Rizia Parvin, and film actor Amit Hasan, were injured in police baton charge on pro-hartal procession at the FDC rail crossing.

          Witnesses said police charged batons on a BNP procession led by ex-MP Salahuddin in Matuail area at about 10:45 am and arrested three pickets from there. Five vehicles were damaged on the spot.

         In Shyampur, a BNP procession clashed with anti-hartal procession of Awami League and Chhatra League.

         The police swung into action whenever there was any attempt to stage pro-hartal pickets in the capital.

BNP central office at Nayapaltan was put under siege by riot police preventing party leaders from entering into or coming out of the office.

There was scuffle with police between BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and opposition chief whip Joynul Abdin Farroque in front of their party office in the morning. Some BNP workers were seen dragged into a police van by uniformed and plainclothes law enforcers there.

About five journalists and cameramen representing different TV channels were injured in the police attack in front of the BNP central office at Nayapaltan.

Instantly protesting the incident journalists staged sit-in on the street in front of the BNP central office at about 11 am.

Later, the journalists withdrew the sit-in program at around 12:30 pm as DC police of Motijheel Zone Anwar Hossain expressed regret at the incident and assured to take action against the guilty policemen after investigation.

         In the face of police action, agitated Mirza Fakhrul warned that if they are obstructed from enforcing their program, tougher non-stop program like 72-hour hartal will be called.
            Hartal disrupted normal life and business activities. Classes at educational institutions were not held while most shops and private offices remained closed. Traffic movement in the capital was thin as most automobiles stayed off the streets.
        BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan questioned police officers as to why they are putting obstruction to hartal and wanted to know whether hartal has been banned or section 144 imposed by the government.