Police reopen Naya Paltan road to BNP offices after two days of blockade

Police reopened the Naya Paltan road to the BNP offices after two days of closure surrounding the party’s recent Dhaka Division rally.

Police removed the barbed wire barricades and fences on either side of the road from Fakirapul to the Nightingale intersection at 7:00am on Sunday, reports UNB.

The barricades have been removed after ensuring peace and safety for the public, but law enforcers will still be providing security, the police said.

Police personnel were still seen in the eight alleys on the Naya Paltan road. Water cannons, armoured vehicles, prison vans, and other police vehicles were still present on the Fakirapul road and at the Nightingale intersection.

The police locked the BNP headquarters in Naya Paltan. A security guard said that no one had come to the office and it was still in the disorderly state left by law enforcers during their raid. A bad smell has developed inside the offices as cleaners have not been inside.

As several workers at the BNP offices have been arrested, it is unclear when they will reopen.

Moni Miah, who runs a small tea and cigarette stand on the footpath in the Naya Paltan area, said, “I am a bit scared. If the police force me to move, I may have to set up shop on the street. Not too many people are passing through here either. I’ll wait until the late afternoon and make a decision about shifting elsewhere. I was struggling to provide for my family the past couple of days, while the road was closed.”

When police blocked the Naya Paltan road, they did not allow people entry to the area. The larger stores on the road were closed too.

Police attacked BNP activists in front of the party’s headquarters on Wednesday before raiding their offices. They then blocked the road. They opened the road to traffic briefly on Wednesday before blocking it again until Sunday morning.