The opposition's 72-hour hartal, which begins on Sunday, was extended for 12 more hours after the arrests of a number of top BNP leaders.
BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the announcement at BNP's Nayapaltan headquarters on Saturday morning.
Hours after the 72-hour shutdown plan was made public on Friday, five leaders of the main opposition BNP and an advisor to Khaleda Zia were arrested.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi condemned the arrests. “This means that the government is in fear. They think that the hartal will fail if leaders are in jail.
But no. The people have protested the arrests in several areas of the country. There is already a mood of shutdown in the country,” he said at the press briefing.
The BNP leader demanded the immediate release of the party leaders and warned of “tougher” moves if this did not occur.
He claimed that the government revealed its “fascist face” through the arrests.
Rizvi alleged that the police have been in "attacking mode" after the shutdown call was made on Friday. “I am bound to say that I am in fear for my life.”
He said he himself narrowly managed to escape arrest and took refuge in the Nayapaltan headquarters.
This shutdown is the third in as many weeks.
Earlier, two 60-hour hartals claimed the lives of several people and injured hundreds of others in the nationwide violence which ensued.
