BANGLADESH

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has held an emergency meeting with the top policymakers on the country's present condition.

"The agenda of the meeting will be briefed at a press meet at 12pm on Tuesday at the party central office at Naya Paltan," BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters on Monday after the meeting.

The meeting started at Khaleda's Gulshan political office from 10:30pm and ended at 11:45pm.

Responding to a query from the press, Fakhrul said, "The meeting's discussion included the country's current situation and the four-party alliance rally on Sept 27 at Paltan ground."

Apart from Fakhrul, party standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan and vice-president Sadeque Hossain Khoka attended the meeting.

The meeting began hours after police arrested BNP ally Jamaat-e-Islami's acting secretary-general A T M Azharul Islam, publicity secretary Tasneem Alam, central working committee member Mohammad Ijjat Ullah and six other members from its Moghbazar headquarters.

The arrests were followed by clashes between Jamaat activists and police at the city's Bijoynagar. The opposition activists in Dhaka set at least 15 cars on fire, including a police vehicle and ransacked another 25 at Dhaka's Bijoynagar during a fierce clash with the law-enforcers.

Detective Branch senior assistant commissioner S M Ashrafuzzaman told bdnews24.com said that they were arrested on charges of assault on police, arson and vandalism.

The clash in Dhaka has left at least 50 injured including police officials. Until 9pm, police arrested 78 while another 26 were arrested in Chittagong.

They were arrested eight days before the Sept 27 public rally of the four-party alliance where Khaleda would announce the fresh anti-government agitation programme.