Dhaka, Dec 15 (IANS) As political tensions mount in Bangladesh, Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, the student wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP), blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka on Monday, calling for the resignation of the interim government’s Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, local media reported.
The protestor accused the Home Advisor of failing to maintain law and order in the country and of not arresting the suspects behind the shooting of Sharif Osman Hadi, the spokesperson of a radical platform Inqilab Mancha.
As the blockade brought vehicular movement in the surrounding areas to a standstill, they demanded an immediate arrest of those involved in the attack.
"We demand the immediate arrest of the attackers who assaulted Hadi. We also demand the resignation of the Home Advisor as the law and order has deteriorated in the country," Bangladeshi media outlet UNB quoted Abu Bakar Majumdar, convenor of the NCP's student wing, as saying.
Earlier in the day, Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) leaders launched a siege programme at the Home Advisor's office, pressing various demands, including the arrest of those involved in the shooting of Hadi.
Hadi, a potential independent candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency in the upcoming February elections, was shot in the head in full public view in Bijoynagar on December 12.
The miscreants reportedly arrived on a motorcycle and fired shots at Hadi, who was riding a rickshaw in the Box Culvert area of Bijoynagar in Dhaka.
He remains in a critical condition and is being flown to Singapore for advanced medical treatment.
The attack came just a day after the country's Election Commission announced the poll schedule, stating that the 13th national parliamentary election, along with the July Charter referendum, will be held on February 12 next year.
Bangladesh has witnessed an alarming rise in violence and a degrading law and order situation under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
--IANS
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