Rajshahi, May 23: Members of Crisis Response Team have been deployed in front of the Rajshahi metropolitan office of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Malopara area in the city since early Tuesday ahead of the party’s road march programme.
They have also kept the BNP city office closed and are not allowing anyone to go inside.
Meanwhile, police personnel are not allowing traffic movement on the road adjacent to the Rajshahi metropolitan office since early Tuesday.
They put barricade at several intersections in the city by setting temporary fences to control the vehicle movements.
Visiting the Malopara area, this correspondent has also found a large number of detectives — both in clothes and plainclothes — patrolling and an armoured personnel carrier and water cannon deployed.
According to the party sources, the district and metropolitan BNP was scheduled to hold a road march on the day at 11:00am, beginning at Bhubanmohan Park and ending at the railway gate via Sonadighi Mor and Sahebbazar areas in the city.
However, the law enforcers put barricade and stopped the traffic movement from Swachh Tower intersection to Sonadighi intersection.
Bijoy Basak, additional police commissioner (crime and operation), said that they had deployed the law enforcers to avoid any kind of untoward incident as they had information that BNP could do subversive activities centring their road march programme.
Ershad Ali Isha, convener of Rajshahi metropolitan BNP, said that they wanted to hold a road march programme today; but the law enforcers kept their party office and venue surrounded since morning.
He said that they would hold their road march at a different venue some other time in the city.
Ershad Ali Isha also alleged that the law enforcers arrested seven leaders of Juba Dal and Chhatra Dal including Nazrul Huda, joint convener of city BNP, on Monday night.
He alleged that the police were conducting raids at the party leaders’ and activists’ houses at night.
