BNP leaders went into hiding in a “cave” after threatening to topple the government, said Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday.

The BNP yesterday alleged that the government has created an appalling situation in the country to try and eliminate their political opponents through the use of force.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen yesterday urged BNP to participate in the upcoming national elections.

Law enforcers have decided to increase security precautions, fearing that the two-day blockade called by opposition parties, which begins this morning, will be more violent than the ones last week, said police sources.

Jatiya Party is ready for the upcoming election but it will participate only if the polls are held in a credible manner, said JP Chairman GM Quader yesterday.

More than a third registered political parties, including opposition BNP, boycotted the Election Commission’s talks yesterday. And some of those who joined the dialogue observed that the current situation is not conducive to holding a free and fair election.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the hand that sets vehicles on fire should be burnt in the same flame.

After a brief pause over the weekend, the BNP, along with like-minded parties, is going to enforce a two-day nationwide blockade starting today with many of its top leaders behind bars. Further arrests of leaders continued yesterday but the BNP said it was determined to continue its movement until the demand for the upcoming general election under a non-partisan interim government was met. On the eve of the blockade, six buses were torched in Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Bhola. Separately, dozens of opposition leaders, including BNP Organising Secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince, were arrested. The BNP has also called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Chattogram for today in protest of the arrest of the party’s standing committee member, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who is from the district. Earlier, the opposition parties observed a day-long hartal on October 29 and a three-day blockade from October 31 to November 2 to press home their one-point demand and protest the police action on its October 28 rally. At least three people died in clashes and arson attacks during the day of the hartal. The three-day countrywide blockade was also marked by clashes that left four people dead. Fear of violence among the public runs high, as there were reports of torching 31 vehicles in the capital and elsewhere in the county during last week’s blockade. Last night, six buses were torched in Dhaka’s New Market, Elephant Road, Sayedabad, and Gulistan; Narayanganj’s Siddhirganj; and Bhola’s Charfesson. Khandaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners’ Association, told this newspaper that buses would operate today. ARRESTS CONTINUE BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said over 5,023 party leaders and activists were arrested in 113 cases across the country from October 24 till yesterday afternoon. Some 176 were picked up, and 575 BNP men were sued in six cases in the 24 hours till yesterday afternoon, Rizvi told a virtual press briefing. Plainclothes men allegedly detained BNP Organising Secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince from his sister’s house in Badda yesterday evening, according to the BNP media cell. Meanwhile, the DB yesterday said it arrested three BNP leaders, including Al Masud, agriculture affairs secretary of Jubo Dal’s central committee. While talking to reporters at his office, DB chief Harun Or Rashid claimed that the arrestees detonated bombs at different places on October 27. Besides, they hurled bombs targeting police at different places on October 28, he added. The Rab yesterday said it arrested 23 BNP men in several districts for violence, vandalism, and arson. According to court sources, at least 78 BNP-Jamaat men were produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka yesterday. ‘TARGET FOR WIPEOUT’ Rizvi alleged that law enforcers were targeting even grassroots leaders and activists across the country to eliminate the party. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir, standing committee members Mirza Abbas and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, party media cell Convenor Zahir Uddin Swapan, and Dhaka North City Unit Member Secretary Aminul Haque are among the party leaders arrested over the last week. In a statement yesterday, Abdul Moyeen Khan, a standing committee member of the party, denounced “the ruling party’s oppression”. “Those who think that the BNP will be leaderless and wiped out by a reign of terror created by the government’s administrative machinery and misinformation in the media must remember that the BNP’s foundation is at the grassroots.”

As many as 65,000 Ansar and VDP members will be deployed across the country to ensure smooth movement of rail, road, and river transport during the two-day blockade called by BNP and Jamaat from tomorrow

Plainclothes men allegedly picked up BNP organising secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince from Badda area of the capital this evening

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud today said arsonists and those who sponsor arson terrorism will not be spared

The BNP today alleged that the government has created an appalling situation in the country to try and eliminate their political opponents through the use of force

BNP leaders went into hiding in a "cave" after threatening to topple the government, said Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal today urged all political parties including BNP to participate in the upcoming national election

Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has reiterated her call to the countrymen to vote for her party's electoral symbol "boat" to sustain the country's development and people's wellbeing

Says law minister

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen today urged BNP to participate in the upcoming national elections and stop arson attacks and destruction of properties

BNP has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Chattogram for tomorrow in protest against the arrest of the party's standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday said the fall of the current regime is imminent as none of its strategies will work to suppress the opposition’s ongoing one-point movement.

Islami Andolon Bangladesh yesterday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government to resign and transfer power to a national government formed comprising all political parties.