Staff Reporter :The Gulshan office of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has been detached from all sorts of communication for the last three consecutive days as Internet, TV cable, fax, land and mobile phones there are still down. Some 19 hours after disconnection, the authorities, in the face of criticism, had restored the electricity supply to Khaleda’s office. But, the severed communication networks are yet to be restored still filing of the report at about 10:00pm on Monday. The BNP has threatened to continue the ongoing 72-hour hartal for an indefinite period along with the ongoing blockade if the remaining utility connections to the Gulshan office are not restored soon.The dwellers, who are residing in the area, are also facing communication disruption because of the suspension of these networks. The mobile phone operators, including Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi, suspended their networks following the order of the concerned authorities. Meanwhile, a panic situation was prevailing around the Gulshan office as police did not allow anyone to enter or to leave the office except the office staffs from Monday morning. “Detectives are also patrolling the area in plainclothes and they are trying to apprehend anyone seeking to enter or exit the office. They have created panic among everyone,” said Shamsuddin Didar, a press wing member of the BNP. The DB police picked up a person from the main gate of the Gulshan office in the afternoon. He was identified as Mazharul Islam. He went there to hand over a mobile set to the staffs of the office for Khaleda Zia. The DB police also took away the mobile set from the staff members. Earlier on Sunday, the law enforcers arrested Mosaddek Ali Falu, chairman of private television channel NTV and an adviser to the BNP chairperson, from the main gate of the office. Khaleda Zia’s utility services were disconnected after BNP-led 20-party alliance refused to withdraw the 72-hour countrywide hartal from Sunday morning and the blockade ahead of the SSC examination which was scheduled to begin from Monday. The examination, however, was rescheduled for Friday. The Gulshan office has been turned into Khaleda Zia’s residence since she has been staying there from January 3. Police had confined her to the office, as she was scheduled to hold a grand rally in the city on January 5 on occasion of the first anniversary of the January 5 one-sided polls. Having failed to come out of the office, she announced the nonstop blockade programme on January 5.
