The four-party alliance formed human chains at various places in the capital Wednesday afternoon, defying a police ban and heavy rains, to press for BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's unconditional release and steps to send her detained elder son Tarique Rahman abroad for better medical treatment, reports bdnews24.com.
Police used batons to disperse party leaders and activists at places, while the BNP-led alliance announced a further protest rally on Sept 2 "against police bans and obstructions."
Hundreds of party adherents led by BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain, Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and Islami Oikyo Jote secretary general Abdul Latif Nezami formed the human chain programme in front of the Press Club around 5:30pm. But they could not take their programme on to the streets in the face of police deployment.
Leaders and activists, led by BNP leaders Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui and Nazrul Islam Khan, also formed another human chain before Sonali Bank Motijheel office. But heavy rainfall compelled them to leave.
Some 40 BNP activists later took out a protest procession in Motijheel commercial area, but police obstructed them. Then the protesters smashed at least 15 vehicles.
Kalyanpur police dispersed four-party alliance members, as they formed a human chain led by former BNP lawmaker Sohrab Hossain.
BNP's student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) also joined the programme. Over 1,500 JCD activists from various academic institutions of Dhaka marched towards the Engineer's Institution, Bangladesh, through Suhrawardy Udyan.
But their programme also faced police impediment as they reached the gate. Later the JCD adherents gathered in front of the Raju sculpture, chanting slogans.
Earlier, four-party alliance leaders in a meeting at Delwar's home Wednesday morning had decided that they would observe the human chain programme peacefully, despite a ban imposed by the police late Tuesday night.
The four-party alliance had also been banned on Aug 21 from marching to the Chief Adviser's office to submit a memorandum.
Police foiled the alliance's human chain programme outside Dhaka, though activists in Khulna and Kishoreganj clashed with law-enforcers.
In Khulna, the activists assembled at the Chamber Building around 10:30am, but police obstructed the activists and took away their banners, sparking clashes. However, Khulna Sadar police chief Ataur Rahman denied any clash with the activists.
