Staff Correspondent:

The government on Wednesday imposed curfew in Gopalganj district amid heightening tensions over clashes between police and Awami League activists over an NCP rally.

The curfew will remain in force from 8am on Wednesday to 6pm on Thursday, according to the Chief Adviser’s press wing.

Supporters of the AL, banned BCL and other associate bodies, equipped with sticks and brickbats took positions at different streets and lanes, prompting Rab, army and BGB teams to intensify their patrol in the city.

The local administration slapped Section-144 in Gopalganj Sadar.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Muhammad Kamruzzaman enforced Section-144 but did not set any timeframe for it.

Alongside the police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and army personnel, four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in the Sadar headquarters to avoid further untoward incidents, said Md Shariful Islam, public relations officer of the BGB Headquarters.

A tense situation was prevailing in the city as chase and counter-chase continued between the law enforcers and the AL supporters.

Meanwhile, the interim government said the use of violence in Gopalganj is ‘utterly indefensible’ and those responsible for this brutality will face justice.

“Let it be made absolutely clear: violence has no place in our nation. Justice must and will prevail,” said the interim government in a statement on the attacks on a peaceful NCP rally in Gopalganj.

The government said preventing young citizens from peacefully holding a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their revolutionary movement is a ‘shameful violation’ of their fundamental rights.