DHAKA: Bangladesh pol­ice have formally charged Begum Khaleda Zia, head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) with instigating a petrol bomb attack on a passenger bus, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Police said 29 people suffered burns in the incident on Friday and nine passengers are in critical condition.

The authorities accuse the BNP leader of ordering the attack as part of the party’s campaign to blockade Dhaka to try to force a general election.

“She was charged for the first time with instigating such an attack on a passenger bus during the ongoing blockade programme,” Hab­i­bur Rahman, Superin­ten­dent of Polices of Dhaka, said.

One senior leader of the BNP, Rizvi Ahmed, denied the allegations against Khaleda, who is not in custody but still working in her office.

The BNP has been blockading Dhaka since Jan 6 to try to compel the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to hold an election. The party boycotted a vote in 2014.

Police say they have arrested scores of BNP activists since the blockade began for various offences connected to the campaign, but the BNP says about 10,000 people have been taken into custody.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2015

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