BNP warns over unrest after buildings smashed in Bangladesh

DHAKA: Bangladesh´s powerful BNP political party has spoken out publicly for the first time against the interim government after a surge of unrest and a sweeping security crackdown.

Police have arrested more than 1,500 people nationwide since Saturday as part of “Operation Devil Hunt”, targeting groups allegedly connected to ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, who was toppled in a student-led revolution in August.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Bangladesh National Party secretary-general, met interim leader Mohammed Yunus late on Monday to “raise concerns over the incidents that have swept across the country”.

Protesters smashed buildings connected to Hasina´s family using excavators -- including a museum to her late father, Bangladesh´s first president -- on February 5, six months to the day since she fled as crowds stormed her palace in Dhaka.

Police stood by as protesters torched the building.

“It all happened in front of law enforcement agencies, so the government cannot avoid its responsibility,” Alamgir said.

Those protests followed reports that 77-year-old Hasina, who has defied an arrest warrant to face trial for crimes against humanity, would appear in a live broadcast from exile in neighbouring India.

There were also clashes between anti-Hasina protesters and members of her Awami League party.