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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Army personnel being 'abducted': Khaleda

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has alleged that the government is 'abducting' army personnel, apart from opposition activists, as a part of its policy of oppression.

"The government is eliminating opposition's leaders and activists not only through oppression but also through abductions and secret killings. Not only this, even army personnel are being abducted," she told a rally at the port city's Polo Ground at the close of her two-day Chittagong road march.

Although her remarks came at the rally in the afternoon, banned Islamist militant outfit Hizb-ut Tahrir Bangladesh had in the morning sent leaflets in sealed envelopes to several local daily newspaper offices reading the same allegation attributed to Khaleda.

The leaflets also asked the army to come forward to oust the ruling Awami League-led government.

Khaleda in her allegation also said that the government is also conspiring to destroy the army. "Conspiracy is being hatched to destroy the army just like BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh - BGB). In the last three years, the government has failed to finish the trial of killers of 57 army officials in the BDR headquarters."

"Many army officials were fired. Their goal is to create a puppet army by destroying ours," she said.

Over 70 people, 57 of them army officers deputed to the border force, were killed in a mutiny at the capital's Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters at Pilkhana on Feb 25-26, 2009. Rebellion also spread to BDR outposts in several districts in the country.

In Sunday's rally, Khaleda also criticised the present government by recounting its 'failures' over the last three years during her 45-minute speech.

The main opposition chief also announced that BNP would hold a grand rally in Dhaka on Mar 12 demanding ouster of the government.