Bangladesh opposition leader jailed

Dhaka, November 5

A court in Bangladesh on Sunday ordered the imprisonment of opposition BNP leader and former home minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury in a case filed over vandalism of the chief justice’s residence during a clash between his party supporters and police that left two people dead.

The direction of the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court came as clashes and clandestine arson attacks left dozens, including policemen, wounded and vehicles burnt amid a new 48-hour nationwide transport blockade called by the opposition. Chowdhury, a former Air Force chief, was arrested by the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from the suburban Tongi area.

Hours after his arrest, the court ordered that the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) vice chairman be sent to jail. Besides Chowdhury, several other leaders of BNP were arrested in connection with the deadly violence in Dhaka on October 28 in which two persons, including a cop, were killed and the city saw widespread clashes, including an attack on the chief justice’s residence.