Police hold 5,000 in Bangladesh

By Waliur Rahman
BBC correspondent in Dhaka

Awami League protesters during a recent rally in Dhaka

The number of people being held in Bangladesh has risen to 5,000 ahead of a deadline set by the opposition Awami League for the government to resign.

People were arrested at bus and train terminals on Friday following reports that people from different districts were gathering in the city, police say.

The opposition alleges the arrests have been carried out to foil the League's anti-government programmes.

But the police say the arrests were made as part of their routine work.

Deadline 'unacceptable'

The opposition Awami League had asked the government to quit by the 30 April and call early elections.

However, a government spokesman said the authorities would punish anyone trying to instigate anarchy.

"It's not acceptable that anyone sets a deadline for the fall of an elected government," said Haris Chowdhury, the political secretary of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

He said that a rally outside Dhaka, where the opposition leader Sheikh Hasina spoke, proved that there was no bar on democratic practice in Bangladesh.