Thousands of BNP men sued, more than 25 arrested over Tuesday's clashes

Thousands of BNP men were sued in separate cases and over 25 arrests were made in connection with the clashes that took place on Tuesday across the country. The clashes involved leaders and activists of the Awami League and the BNP and police personnel.

Trouble erupted when the BNP brought out its protest marches, demanding the ruling government's resignation, in different parts of the country.

In Dhaka, two cases were filed against more than 1,200 leaders and activists of the BNP over Tuesday's clashes between Chhatra League and BNP activists in front of Government Bangla College in Mirpur during the opposition's march.

Police arrested 18 opposition activists after the incident.

In Bogura, as many as 211 activists and leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) Bagura chapter have been accused in four cases.

In Feni, police have filed two separate cases against 2,000 members of the BNP and its affiliate organisations.

A total of 88 people have been named in the case while the rest are unknown.

In Joypurhat, two cases were filed with Joypurhat Sadar police station against 1,200 BNP men.

One case is against 81 BNP men for obstructing government work. Another 400-500 activists have been named as unknown defendants in the same case.

Two people have been arrested in the case.

Bangladesh Chhatra League filed another case against 150 identified and 400-500 unidentified BNP men over the same incident.

In Pirojpur, a case has been filed against 380 leaders and activists of the BNP in connection with Tuesday's clashes, reports UNB.

Police also arrested 15 people in this connection.

Convener of Pirojpur district unit BNP Alamgir Hossain and member secretary Gazi Wahiduzzaman Lavlu were among the accused.

In Kishoreganj, a case has been filed against 89 BNP leaders and activists on charge of attacking police.

No arrests have been made in this case yet, he added.

In Khulna, a case has been filed against 80 leaders and activists of the Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal on charges of obstructing police from performing duties, attacking them and vandalising vehicles, reports UNB.

In Lakshmipur, two cases have been filed against 3,500 men. The main defendant is Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, the BNP's publicity secretary.

Meanwhile, the BNP has claimed that Md Sajib Hossain, who was killed in Lakshmipur during a clash between it and the Awami League, was an activist of its farmers' wing Krishak Dal. 

The BNP alleged that BCL workers had hacked him to death.

On the other hand, the police said that Sajib was killed by the sharp weapon of a miscreant while he was on a personal errand.

The Awami League said Sajib was a pedestrian.

300 cases since new US visa policy

A total of 10,300 BNP leaders and activists are accused in 300 cases filed against them till last Saturday since 24 May, the day before the US announced its new visa policy for Bangladeshis aimed at promoting free and fair elections.

A total of 1,000 BNP men have been arrested in these cases filed during the nearly two-month period, according to the opposition party office.

BNP leaders said the number of lawsuits was down for a few days after the US announced its visa policy.

However, the numbers jumped again recently, even at a time when foreign diplomats are visiting the country to observe the country's pre-election atmosphere, they said. 

The ruling party is back to its old self, believing the US visa policy or the foreign missions are not going to affect them, so BNP leaders think.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told The Business Standard that Sheikh Hasina is desperate about staying in power by breaking the morale of the BNP with attacks and prosecutions.

BNP Joint Secretary General Mahbub Uddin Khokon alleged that there is a push to punish BNP leaders with quick verdicts to disqualify them at the upcoming elections.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at several rallies has said the government is preparing a blueprint to prolong its power.

As part of it, the ruling party is selecting 1,300 cases to send BNP's electable leaders to jail before the next election, Fakhrul alleged.

"If that plan is implemented, it will be easy for the Awami League to score goals in an empty field without an opponent," he added.

He also claimed that the so-called corruption cases filed against BNP men during the army-backed caretaker government are being revived.

According to the BNP, there have been almost 1.5 lakh cases against BNP men, with 39,78,481 accused since the current Awami League government came to power 14 years ago.

Of the total number of cases, more than 2,830 have been filed under the Digital Security Act.