Hundreds of Bangladesh opposition men sued for violence

Hundreds of Bangladesh's main opposition party members have been sued for violent protest during Sunday's countrywide road blockade. "200 to 250 opposition activists with Acting Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir were sued in the first case," Mohammad Rafique, a sub-inspector of Dhaka's Paltan Police Station, told Xinhua Monday. In the second case, "200 to 300 opposition men with Mirza Abbas, a standing committee member of BNP, were sued," he said. After the end of the eight-hour blockade, Alamgir denied responsibility for violence. Four people were killed and 600 others injured when former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's 18-party alliance supporters and their ruling party rivals and cops fought pitched battles in capital Dhaka and elsewhere Sunday morning. The BNP on Tuesday unveiled large-scale protest plans including the road blockade to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to meet its demand, mainly the restoration of a non- party caretaker government to hold next general elections slated for early 2014.