Surrounding areas of the secretariat, including the Noor Hossain Square, Bangabandhu Avenue, Gulistan, Paltan crossing and Doyel Chattar, turned chaotic during an hour-long chase and counter-chase between the law enforcers and opposition activists.

Meanwhile, the 14-party alliance declared to stage a sit-in programme in front of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on April 19, demanding reforms in the caretaker government system and Election Commission.

The opposition held the two-hour long sit-in programme starting at 11:00am yesterday, defying the government ban on gatherings, rallies and processions around two-and-a-half kilometre radius of the secretariat.

The opposition blamed the police for attacking their peaceful demonstrations. They staged rallies at different parts of the city in the afternoon in protest of the attacks.

Assistant Deputy Commissioner (East) Imtiaz Ahmed, however, counter-blamed the opposition men for "provoking" the police to go into action.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) had deployed around 9,000 law enforcers at different strategic points around the secretariat to thwart the opposition men.

The police put up barbed-wire fences at Matsya Bhaban, Paltan crossing, Baitul Mukarram, Noor Hossain Square, Bangabandhu Avenue and Doyel Chattar early in the morning and prevented all kinds of traffic in the areas.

They also took positions at different lanes and by-lanes, and rooftops of high-rise buildings in the areas.

Earlier on Tuesday, the DMP issued a release, imposing the ban on all kinds of gatherings and rallies in the adjoined areas of the secretariat for 24 hours from Wednesday midnight, considering the opposition programme a "security threat" to the secretariat.

THE CLASHES
Processions of opposition activists from different parts of the city and adjacent districts started gathering at the police barricades in different areas at 10:00am. Led by senior leaders of the alliance, the demonstrations chanted anti-government slogans.

As a post-sit-in rally ended near the Bangabandhu National Stadium, the main venue of the sit-in programme, at Gulistan around 12:35pm, the demonstrators and the law enforcers locked in a clash.

The protesters pelted stones at the police in a bid to break the barricade while the law enforcers fired dozens of teargas shells and rubber bullets. The police chased the opposition men and charged batons indiscriminately, leaving over 12 persons injured.

In a few minutes, the clash spread near the AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue when demonstrators started hurling stones at the police from rooftops. The police lobbed teargas shells at the AL office and dispersed the protesters from the area after 30 minutes of chase and counter-chase.

Top opposition leaders, including Dr Kamal Hossain, Tofail Ahmed, Abdul Jalil, Rashed Khan Menon, Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, Mainuddin Khan Badal, Obaidul Quader, Dilip Barua, Enamul Haque and Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya, addressed the mammoth rally.

The opposition leaders told the rally that by imposing the ban on a democratic way of protest, the government is forcing the country towards a chaotic situation.

Around 12:00 noon, leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of the AL, locked in a violent clash with the police near Doyel Chattar as the law enforcers prevented them from proceeding towards the secretariat.

Dispersed as the police charged baton on the procession, the BCL activists regrouped in the surrounding areas and again locked in clashes with the police. A group of BCL leaders and activists managed to hold a brief rally near Doyel Chattar but ultimately came under police attack.

The sporadic clashes left at least 20 BCL men, five policemen and two journalists injured.

The agitated BCL activists damaged at least three vehicles in front of the Bangla Academy and assaulted a police officer.

Clashes also erupted near the Paltan intersection as the police attacked an opposition demonstration led by AL leaders Asaduzzaman Noor, Shahjahan Khan and Shahara Khatun at 1:00pm. Five people were injured in the clashes.

The senior opposition leaders later brought the situation under control.

The police also barricaded the Matsya Bhaban intersection to prevent an opposition procession from advancing towards the secretariat around 11:00am.

The opposition procession led by AL central leaders Mohammad Nasim, Prof Abu Sayeed, Dr Hasan Mahmud, Dr Abdur Razzak and Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan sat there and held a rally, protesting the police obstruction.

JOURNALIST INJURED
During the sit-in programme, the police assaulted Zakir Hossain, staff correspondent of the daily Amar Desh, near the Jatiya Press Club area.

Zakir said he was going to office from his home near the press club when the riot police stopped him. As they asked to see his identity card, Zakir showed them his accreditation card.

The law enforcers then asked him where his camera was and then started to beat him indiscriminately.

APRIL 19 SIT-IN
Opposition alliance Coordinator and AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil yesterday evening said the 14-party will stage a two-hour sit-in in front of the PMO on April 19 from 11:00am.

Vowing to force the government to resign, Jalil told the press after a meeting of the alliance at the AL Dhanmondi office that the opposition will go for continuous strikes if the government tries to resist the sit-in.

Jalil said the alliance will also demonstrate agitation programmes across the country today in protest of yesterday's police attack that injured around 200 opposition men.

The alliance will take up mass contact programmes in districts and upazilas during April 3-13, he added.

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Opposition out to create unrest Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has blasted an opposition political party's destructive action and attack on police in the name of laying siege to the secretariat.

Commuters suffer as cops obstruct them on roads Hundreds of people, mainly office-goers, passed a very difficult day in the city yesterday as police obstructed them around the Bangladesh Secretariat during the 14-party's planned sit-in.

Govt pushes country into conflict Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the alliance government has pushed the country towards conflict by slapping a ban on assembly around the secretariat to foil the opposition's peaceful sit-in