RAB increases surveillance in Dhaka ahead of 28 Oct rallies

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has strengthened security measures in Dhaka city ahead of the rallies of both Awami League and BNP on Saturday.

RAB-2 has deployed pickups and motorcycles to patrol Mohammadpur, Adabar, Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Newmarket, Hazaribagh, Sherbangla Nagar, Tejgaon and Tejgaon industrial areas of the capital, reads a press release published Friday (27 October).

In order to strengthen the security in the areas under the responsibility of RAB-2, the team's captain is regularly supervising the activities of the patrol teams and providing necessary guidance, it added.

As the Awami League and BNP-Jamaat gear up for massive shows of strength in the capital on 28 October, concerns about potential violence have grown and the issues of venue and permission for the opposition rallies have become a source of contention.

The Awami League, BNP, and Jamaat-e-Islami on Thursday (26 October) reiterated that they will hold rallies at their announced venues in Dhaka tomorrow as planned, despite not receiving permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

In response to the three political parties' communications regarding the rallies, the DMP has asked BNP and AL to provide two alternative venues, while Jamaat has been denied permission. 

The ruling Awami League is adamant about holding the rally at the southern gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque, while the BNP said it is all set to stage its rally in front of its party office in Nayapaltan. Jamaat is also resolute to hold its Dhaka rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel.

"If our rally in Nayapaltan is obstructed, the government will have to take responsibility," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a press conference held at the party's central office in Nayapaltan on Friday (27 October).

Responding to a question from the journalists, Mirza Fakhrul said, "There is nothing to allow, it is our constitutional right to hold a rally. Our rally will be completely peaceful."