One killed, scores injured as police clash with BNP

At least one activist was shot dead and over a hundred were injured as the police clashed with supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, stormed into the party office and arrested dozens, including senior leaders in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The clash erupted around 2:30pm in front of the BNP central office at Naya Paltan in the capital, as hundreds of police in riot gear, with water cannons and armoured personnel vehicles swooped on the BNP leaders and activists.
Witnesses said that the police carried out the attack without prior warning as the BNP leaders and activists were chanting slogans and campaigning for their Dhaka divisional mass rally scheduled for December 10.
The BNP activists responded back with brickbats, triggering a clash, which left Jatiyatabadi Swechchasebak Dal activist Mokbul Hossain, 43, shot dead.
Witnesses said that the police fired several hundred rounds of birdshot and tear gas shells to disperse the activists gathered in front of the BNP party office and nearby alleys.
After the clash ended, police entered the BNP party office, locked it from the inside, and conducted a raid.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir rushed to the party office in the aftermath of the clash, but the police did not allow him inside.
Fakhrul took his position before the locked party office and held an off-the-cuff press briefing, accusing the government of creating a climate of fear ahead of the BNP's Dhaka divisional mass rally.
The police also detained dozens of BNP leaders and activists from the party office, including its senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam, Dhaka north city unit convener Aman Ullah Alam, and central leader Khairul Kabir Khokon.