Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said the BNP and its leaders are responsible for the Naya Paltan incident that took place on Wednesday.
"We have been saying for a long time that the BNP wants to create chaos, not hold a rally. The BNP called for a rally on December 10. But you see how the BNP carried out attacks on the police in front of their party office at Naya Paltan on December 7 and how they had set fire on vehicles including BRTC buses on Tuesday night," he said.
The minister said the police also recovered 15 unexploded cocktails, 200,000 bottles of water, 160 bags of rice, hotchpotch, cookeries and Tk2 lakh in cash.
Hasan said this while exchanging views with reporters at the meeting room of his ministry at the Secretariat in the capital.
He said BNP leaders and activists started gathering at Naya Paltan in the afternoon and the police repeatedly requested them to keep at least one lane open when a road was blocked there.
But they ignored the request, he said, adding that the deputy commissioner (DC) of Motijheel-Ramna area also requested them. They hit the DC with sticks from behind and his bodyguard was also injured severely, he said.
Later, the minister said, BNP leaders and activists carried out attacks on the police and 35 policemen were injured. Of them, eight were admitted to hospitals, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.
He said the police were compelled to fire teargas shells. A common man died there and the police think that he died due to the injury from a cocktail blast, he added.
He said the reason for the death will be confirmed after autopsy.
The minister said the BNP has been saying that about a million people will gather at their rally. But, 10,000-20,000 people can gather at Naya Paltan, he added.
For this, he said, Suhrawardy Udyan has been allocated for their rally. They also can use Pallabi Ground in Mirpur or Kalshi Ground where the BNP has already held a rally or Biswa Ijtema Ground or trade fair field, he added.
But, he said, the BNP wants to hold its rally at Naya Paltan with the intention of creating anarchy.
Hasan said the government is not obstructing the BNP from holding its rally peacefully and they have already held nine rallies across the country successfully. The government provided all necessary cooperation to hold rallies smoothly and the leaders and activists of the Awami League have been asked to have patience even in the face of their provocations, he added.
In fact, he said, the BNP does not want peace in the country. For this, they created chaos on Wednesday, he added.
