At least 67 people were detained in three cases filed over the Wednesday’s clash between police and BNP men in the capital’s Nayapaltan area.
The cases were filed yesterday night with Paltan Police Station on charge of vandalism, arson attack and obstructing police from discharging their duties.
BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas and his wife Afroza Abbas were among the accused.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia on Thursday said they have identified 30 people who were involved in Wednesday’s attack with the help of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.
“We’ve already identified 30 people scrutinising photographs and video footage of both print and electronic media and the process is underway to identify the rest,” he said while talking to reporters at the DMP headquarters.
The DMP chief claimed that they got sure that all of the attackers are leaders and activists of BNP and its front organisations.
Describing the attack on police as ‘unexpected’, Asaduzzaman said, “Large sticks were used for the attack. We’re sure that the attack was a premeditated one. The attack was carried out to foil the upcoming national election and create an unstable situation.”
He said three cases were filed with Paltan Police Station and 60 people were arrested from the spot over the attack.
At least 50 people, including 23 policemen, were injured in the clash between BNP leaders and activists and law enforcers in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office on the third day of its nomination-form sale on Wednesday.
Police lobbed teargas shells, rubber bullets and charged baton on the BNP men while two police cars were torched during the clash.
However, both the government and BNP traded a blame game over the clash ahead of the national election billed for December 30.
