Eerie silence, tight security at Nayapaltan

An eerie silence has gripped the area surrounding BNP official headquarters in Nayapaltan with hundreds of law enforcers guarding the area. 

Following the arrest of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir and standing committee member Mirza Abbas last night, the security in the area was tightened on Friday.

There has been very little traffic movement in the area since morning as the police barricades are yet to be removed.

Karwan Bazar, the city's busiest and largest wholesale market, was largely devoid of customers on Friday. Traders said that the presence of customers was comparatively less as people are panicked over BNP's Saturday rally in Dhaka.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the BNP Standing Committee has been called. The meeting will be held virtually today at 11:20 am, BNP media cell member Shairul Kabir Khan has confirmed.

"The Standing Committee emergency meeting has been called in view of the unacceptable situation that has arisen," BNP Standing Committee Member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku told Prothom Alo, adding that the next steps including the Dhaka rally on 10 December will be discussed in the meeting.

After the meeting, BNP will hold a press conference at the party chairperson's Gulshan office at 3 pm, BNP spokesperson Shairul Kabir Khan confirmed.

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, the most senior member of the BNP's standing committee, will address the conference in the presence of other members of the standing committee.

Gonotontro Moncho, a newly formed coalition of seven political parties, has postponed their pre-announced program Democracy Manch.

They will hold an emergency press conference today at 11:30 am at the central office of the State Reform Movement in the capital's Topkhana Road.

Some 445 BNP men including senior party leaders were sent to jail on Thursday in at least five cases filed by cops over deadly clashes at Nayapaltan the previous day. Besides, 23 BNP leaders and activists were placed on remand in those cases with thousands of unnamed people accused of vandalism, attack on police and several other charges.