DHAKA: Bangladesh police have rounded up hundreds of opposition supporters, authorities said yesterday, as the capital was virtually cut off from the rest of the country a day before a mass march aimed at derailing January 5 elections.
Over 750 people have been arrested over the past two days in a nationwide crackdown on opposition supporters.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition backers are expected to descend on the country’s capital today to protest the controversial polls.
The move came after opposition leader Khaleda Zia vowed Friday to go ahead with the march despite a police ban on the protests citing fears of violence.
Dhaka-bound bus and ferry transports have ground to a halt as operators suspended their services following orders from the government, which has sought to prevent the march, claiming it could trigger widespread violence.
Police and security forces have raided houses of opposition supporters and searched trains to arrest supporters, officers said.
Of the more than 750 arrested, around 200 opposition activists have been detained in the capital, police said.
Police made the arrests “to prevent acts of violence and sabotages” ahead of the opposition protests, Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman said.
More than 550 were arrested outside the capital as preventive measures against the march, officials in police control rooms across Bangladesh said.
At least 97 passengers were taken off a Dhaka-bound train in northern Tangail district after police searched it for Islamists accused of attacking police in recent months.
“They are being questioned on suspicion of having militant connection,” district police chief SM Tanvir said. AFP
