
Online Desk:
Police have stopped the Awami League from building a stage for the party’s Saturday rally outside Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.
The stage was half built when police stopped the work at the South Gate of the mosque on Friday afternoon.
In the evening, six police officers were sitting at the scene while the workers of Humayun Decorator, which was tasked with building the stage, were roaming around.
Obaidul Quader, the ruling party’s general secretary, blamed the BNP for the police disruption. He alleged BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir lied about the rally.
“We will build the stage when the police permit us,” said Quader.
The BNP has also planned a rally for Oct 28 outside its headquarters in Naya Paltan, less than two kilometres from the Awami League rally venue.
The duelling programmes have raised political tensions in Bangladesh, prompting the police to heighten security in Dhaka.
Khandaker Mohid Uddin, an additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the police had asked both parties to wait for a final decision on approving the programmes.
“We’re still checking the matter. It’ll take some more time.”