Police blocked at various points the convoy carrying the National Citizen Party’s central convener and opposition chief whip in parliament, Nahid Islam, the NCP leader and member of parliament Hasnat Abdullah, and the NCP leader Sarjis Alam on their way to Habiganj.
NCP leaders and workers held a protest march in Habiganj town at about 6pm on Wednesday in defiance of section 144, over the blocking of the party’s senior leaders from entering Habiganj.
The NCP’s protest march began in front of Habiganj Sadar Model Police Station, went via Baby Stand and ended at Court Station.
Amid the tension, police strengthened security at the BNP’s district office at Shayestanagar in the town, at the Habiganj Circuit House and at various other places in the town.
The leaders meanwhile advanced towards Habiganj from Moulvibazar bit by bit. On the way from Moulvibazar to join the protest rally in Habiganj, the convoy carrying the NCP convener Nahid Islam MP and other senior leaders was first stopped by police at Sreemangal.
Sarjis Alam kept saying that section 144 had been imposed in Habiganj, not in Moulvibazar. They were then allowed to advance a little further. The convoy was brought as far as the Cha-Kanya sculpture at Sreemangal, on the Habiganj-Moulvibazar boundary. Police stopped the NCP leaders’ convoy there. From there the convoy was brought to the Musai hill area of the Rashidpur tea garden in Habiganj district. There police used sand trucks to block the NCP leaders from entering Habiganj.
While on duty in front of the BNP office, the officer in charge of Habiganj Sadar Model Police Station, Jahidul Haque, said the situation in the town was calm. Onlookers were crowding the streets. Considering all aspects, security in the town had been strengthened, he said.
The second officer of Sadar police station, on duty guarding the Circuit House, Dhrubesh, said action would be taken under the law if anyone held a march or rally in the town in defiance of section 144. Police were prepared for that, he said.
The NCP convener Nahid Islam MP wrote on his Facebook page: “NCP leaders at the fourth barricade on the way to Habiganj.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report