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Bangladesh security forces lay siege around Zia's residence

Bangladesh security forces on Thursday laid a siege around the residence of opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia, ahead of a massive anti-government rally planned in the capital demanding postponement of the January 5 elections.

Witnesses said police in riot gears took positions around Zia's house barring party activists and visitors' entry into its premises at up market Gulshan area. However, it was not clear if the 68-year-old former Prime Minister was kept under house arrest.

"We have been working for whatever we think required to maintain law and order and security of all," police commissioner Benajir Ahmed told reporters without elaboration. 

But Zia's international affairs adviser Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury was quoted as saying in media reports that "since yesterday she has been under virtual house arrest" and alleged that it was part of a government move to foil the December 29 'march for democracy'.

Police officials, however, rejected the claim that Zia was detained and said they were ordered just to intensify the security of her residence and other party leaders. No Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader was available for reactions immediately.

Meanwhile, TV news channels reported that police detained BNP lawmaker Shammi Akhtar from in front of Zia's house late last night along with three other junior party leaders. 

On December 24, Zia urged people to march towards Dhaka on December 29 from all over the country to "protect democracy" after the 18-party opposition alliance wrapped up their nearly month-long blockade, sparking widespread violence that claimed over 130 lives.

"This march will be historic, we have named it as 'march for democracy'...I urge all able bodied countrymen cutting across their affiliation, religion and class to join the rally on December 29," she had said.

BNP and its allies, including fundamentalist Jamaat-e- Islami, were boycotting the January 5 polls, while over half of the candidates in 300-seat parliament were set to elected unopposed in the absence of rival candidates.

Zia asked the government to shelve the elections fearing "it could be last nail to the coffin of democracy" and accusing her arch-rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of "killing democracy to consolidate power forever."

She also warned that her party would be forced to take "tougher actions" if elections were not postponed.



Bangladesh deploys army ahead of controversial January 5 polls 



Bangladesh today deployed the army across the country to contain deadly political violence ahead of the January 5 elections, even as nine policemen were injured in attacks by opposition activists. 

"The armed forces have been deployed in aid to civil administration," an army statement said. The troops would act "as a striking force" until January 9 in line with the Election Commission (EC)'s decision. 

The forces initially would be stationed at district headquarters but would gradually spread to nodal points of all districts, sub-districts and metropolitan areas, the statement said. 

The statement made no mention of the number of troops in the field but EC officials hinted they could be as high as 50,000 and include navy and air force personnel.

EC spokesman SM Asaduzzaman said troops would be deployed in at least 59 of the country's 64 districts to ensure security during the polls, which are being boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The EC earlier decided to call out the troops but the announcement to deploy them came after suspected activists of BNP and its fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami hurled crude bombs on a police van and injured nine policemen in Rajshahi.

"Two of the wounded constables received injuries in their head...they are being treated in an intensive care unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital," police official Ziaur Rahman told media. Unidentified persons also set ablaze the office of the chief executive of Laksam sub-district in central Comilla. Officials said no one was injured in the pre-dawn attack. 

The political violence has escalated since the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance refused to take part in the elections after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spurned its demands to quit and install a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls.

The government last week called out paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) along with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police to contain the political violence that has claimed around 130 lives since October.

Several hundred opposition activists were arrested after the forces were deployed in trouble spots like southwestern Satkhira, northwestern Sirajganj and northwestern Chitagong. The military is guarding major highways and troubled areas to secure the movement of convoys as part of their annual winter exercise that began earlier this month.

The military statement said troops would ensure normal vehicular movement on highways during and after the polls while a "central combination cell" has been formed at the Armed Forces Division to help the civil administration.