The BNP has petitioned a Dhaka court to start legal proceedings against several top police officials, including the chief of the Detective Branch Harunor Rashid, for vandalising the party headquarters in the capital's Naya Paltan in December.
Nazim Uddin Alam, a member of the BNP's executive committee, lodged the complaint with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Sunday, according to Kalam Khan, one of the party's lawyers.
Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury is likely to issue an order after the plaintiff's deposition later in the day, he said, reports bdnews24.com.
The others accused in the case include Additional Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman, chief of Dhaka police's anti-terrorism unit, Joint Commissioner Sanjit Kumar of the DB and Joint Commissioner Biplab Kumar Das of the Ramna zone, along with around 200-300 unnamed policemen.
The BNP has named 14 witnesses in the petition.
According to the complaint, the accused, armed with deadly weapons, 'illegally' entered the party's central offices on Dec 7, 2022 and created a hostile situation. They subsequently wreaked havoc by ransacking the offices from the main entrance all the way up to the sixth flood. They also arrested several party leaders, including the office staff, and beat up BNP activists indiscriminately.
The BNP urged the court to take measures in relation to the collection of evidence surrounding the allegations, including CCTV footage of the incident, and sought arrest warrants against the accused.