DHAKA: Bangladesh authorities on Tuesday threatened to bring murder charges against besieged opposition leader Khaleda Zia and arrested her deputy over accusations that they incited a nationwide wave of violence. A day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Zia of trying to trigger anarchy, a minister said her arch rival should expect a murder charge over an arson attack which left three people fighting for their lives.
The threat, which comes after four activists from Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party were killed in the mounting unrest on Monday, was made while the opposition leader remained confined to her offices in Dhaka, barred from leaving by police. The three people injured in the alleged BNP attack in Dhaka last week were in an autorickshaw that was firebombed by protesters — a frequent tactic of BNP hardliners who are trying to topple the prime minister.
"She should prepare for a murder case," information minister Hasanul Haq Inu said. Confined in her office, Zia on Monday called a nationwide non-stop transport blockade in an effort to topple the government and pave way for inclusive polls. As supporters took to the streets to clash with officers, police arrested BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
"He was arrested on charges of arson, bombings and vandalism," Shiblee Noman, assistant commissioner of Dhaka police, said.
Alamgir, the party's defacto number two, had been holed up in the national press club since Monday but was arrested as he tried to drive away from the building, said a journalist at the scene.
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