EC letter inviting BNP leaders for dialogue on polls returns undelivered

An official of the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday failed to deliver an invitation letter addressed to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam as the party’s central office at Nayapaltan was found locked following October 28 foiled rally.

Fakhrul himself is in jail as he was arrested on Sunday and no other BNP leader and activist were found to hand over the letter inviting BNP to join a dialogue on Saturday to discuss the preparations of the upcoming national polls.

M Mohsin, the official of the EC, went to Nayapaltan around 10am with a letter of the commission to the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, now in Dhaka Central Jail, according to sources.

Finding the BNP office locked from the outside, he talked to the members of the police who remained deployed there.

The police members told the EC official that BNP leaders and workers were not seen coming to the office since Sunday as it remained closed following violence centering the party’s grand rally.

The EC official waited there for a while and left the place without delivering the letter.

There was no comment immediately from the Election Commission.

The EC is scheduled to hold a dialogue with the representatives from the registered political parties at 3pm on Saturday to inform them about the commission's preparations for the next parliamentary polls.

In the letter to the BNP secretary general, the EC requested the party to send two of its representatives to the dialogue.

After the party’s grad rally was foiled halfway through on Saturday last at Nayapaltan amid clashes with police, the collapsible gate of the BNP's central office remained closed with the deployment of a huge number of law enforcers in the area.

On Sunday last, the members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) marked the areas in front of the main gate of the BNP office with the crime scene tape inscribed with "Do not cross' to collect evidence from there for investigation into Saturday’s severe political violence.

Later, the CID's Crime Scene Unit collected different evidence from there which are now in their chemical laboratory.

The CID also removed the crime scene yellow tape from in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office early Tuesday.

BNP leaders and workers have not been seen going to their office since Sunday out of fear of getting arrested as many cases were filed in connection with Saturday’s violence that killed two people, including a police constable.

As in the last four days, a huge number of law enforcemers remained deployed in front of the BNP office and its adjoining areas, roads, and alleys on Thursday.

Source: UNB