BANGLADESH

The BNP-led 18-Party Alliance has called two consecutive shutdowns on Sunday and Monday as they say the government failed to 'return' missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali by the deadline given by the opposition.

The party's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the new agitation programme at a press briefing at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters on Saturday.

"We will enforce dawn to dusk shutdowns on Sunday and Monday to protest the forced disappearance of Ilias Ali," he said.

"The government has failed to return Ilias and his driver Ansar to their families. They failed to return them by the deadline given by our party chief."

"That's why we are enforcing two consecutive shutdowns. Fresh protest programmes will be announced on Apr 30 after the shutdowns," Fakhrul added.

On Tuesday, BNP chief Khakeda Zia had given the government Saturday deadline to 'return' Ilias Ali or she had said they would go for tougher agitation.

BNP had enforced three consecutive countrywide shutdowns on Apr 22, 23 and 24 and a day-long shutdown at four Sylhet districts on Apr 20 on the same demand.

More than 20 vehicles were vandalised and set on fire in Dhaka only during the demonstrations. A driver of a bus was burnt alive in a pre-shutdown violence.

Three persons were killed in clashes at Ilias' home constituency, Bishwanath in Sylhet, between law enforcers and pro-shutdown activists.

BNP's one of the organising secretaries Ilias Ali, also the party's Sylhet chapter chief, and his driver Ansar Ali went missing since early hours of Apr 18. Police found his abandoned car and mobile phone at a street in the capital's Mohakhali area near his Banani residence.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) had raided a number of residences in Pubail, Gazipur and Dhaka in its bid to find the missing BNP leader, but failed.

Khaleda Zia accused that 'government agency and RAB picked up Ilias'. However, prime minister Sheikh Hasina denied the accusations and alleged that the BNP was staging a 'drama'.