BNP’s Rizvi among 9 injured as cops charge baton at Mirpur
“It’s not an anti-government procession, but police suddenly attacked it and charged batons to foil it. Many of our leaders and activists, including me, were injured”
At least 10 BNP leaders and activists, including its senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, were injured in the city's Mirpur area on Saturday as police charged batons on them as they took out a procession demanding the release of Khaleda Zia.
Just a day before hearing on a bail petition of the chief Khaleda Zia at a High Court (HC) bench, some leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies brought out a procession from the Kitchen market area at Mirpur's Section-6 around 11am.
As the procession was moving towards Mirpur Section-11, police obstructed it and dispersed the BNP leaders and activists charging batons, leaving Rizvi and nine others injured.
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Talking to reporters later, Rizvi said they brought out the procession in a peaceful manner demanding their chairperson's release as she is very sick.
"It's not an anti-government procession, but police suddenly attacked it and charged batons to foil it. Many of our leaders and activists, including me, were injured," he claimed.
However, Mostak Ahmed, deputy commissioner (Mirpur Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said they did not attack the procession as BNP leaders and activists themselves left the spot seeing police.
On Tuesday last, Khaleda filed a fresh petition with the High Court seeking bail in Zia Charitable Trust graft case, citing illness.
An HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq is scheduled to hear the petition on Sunday next. Khaleda has been in prison since February 8, 2018 as she was convicted in graft cases.
