Law enforcement agencies are being kept on high alert and reinforced in a bid to ensure the security of people and their property amid renewed political tensions post-Eid.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker said actions would be taken in line wirh the laws to keep the situation under control, while declining to elaborate on the extent of the measures available to him.
“It should not be disclosed for strategic reasons. But we have enough capacity and preparation to tackle any kind of situation,” the IGP said.
However, sources said all the agencies including police and Rab were being asked to remain alert.
“All the entrances to the capital will remain restricted for people who would come for political purposes,” said an official of the police seeking anonymity.
The official also said they would search residential hotels, suspected messes and houses where the activists of the opposition parties, mainly Jamaat-e-Islami and its students’ wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, might take shelter before October 24.
The BNP has called a rally for October 25 at Suhrawardy Udyan to press its demand for a non-party government to oversee the national election. The Awami League too announced a rally the same day at Bangabandhu Avenue.
Meanwhile, the central office of the BNP in the capital’s Nayapaltan has been kept under strict surveillance for the last few days. Members of police and Rab were seen surrounding the party office Friday when prison vans were also parked.
Police check posts have been set up at different spots close to the BNP office.
No BNP leader or activist was seen outside the office since Friday morning as the building’s main entrance was kept locked.
Sources said police focused on the BNP office after the party’s senior leader, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, urged its followers to join the October 25 rally with machetes, axes, and other sharp weapons, in case the planned march was “foiled." Khoka’s remarks prompted a police raid in his residence.