Kabir Humayun: BNP leaders and activists staged a protest rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka demanding the release of party chief Khaleda Zia.
The hour-long programme began around 11am and ended at 12pm.
The concurrent protests also occurred in metropolitan areas and district towns, said BNP leaders.
The BNP also announced that it will conduct a two-hour symbolic hunger strike in Dhaka, metropolitan areas and district towns on September 12.
Among others, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Nazrul Islam Khan, Mirza Abbas, Vice Chairman Abdullah Al Noman, and Advisory Council members Jainul Abedin Farooq, Abdus Salam and Ataur Rahman Dhali joined the demonstration at the National Press Club.
During the protest rally, one side of the road in front of the Press Club was blocked by the protests and police arranged for traffic to be diverted on the other side.
Centring the programme, police tightened security in the area in the morning and deployed armoured vehicles and water cannons.
Khaleda has been serving a five-year prison sentence in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case since the verdict was announced on February 8.
Meanwhile, the BNP has conducted several rounds of protests calling for the party chief’s release.
Our time is a news portal