The BNP yesterday told IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun that they wanted to hold their Dhaka divisional rally at Nayapaltan central office on December 10.
During a meeting with the IGP at PHQ, they also assured him that the rally would be a peaceful one like those held in other divisions, said the party leaders.
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A senior police official, present at the meeting, said the IGP urged the BNP leaders to hold the December 10 rally at Suhrawardy Udyan. He also assured the BNP leaders that the police would give them foolproof security.
The BNP delegation was led by the party's Vice-Chairman Barkatullah Bulu.
Asked, Bulu said, "We want to do it [hold the rally] in Nayapaltan."
The BNP had sent two letters to the police on November 13 and 20.
"We sought permission to hold the rally at Nayapaltan [where the party office is located] in those two letters. We didn't want an alternate venue," he said.
At the beginning of the meeting, the BNP demanded the withdrawal of "ghost cases" filed against the party's activists across the country.
The party leaders handed a letter from BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to the IGP on the issue.
The leaders said they attached a list of 169 "ghost cases" with the letter.
"Members of the police and the Awami League are exploding crude bombs but cases are being filed against the BNP men. They are being arrested in ghost cases," Bulu told reporters after the one-hour meeting with the IGP.
"We have handed over a letter to the IGP on behalf of the Hon'ble secretary general on these issues," he said.
"We wanted a remedy of the ghost cases and he [IGP] said he would look into it," Bulu added.
A senior official of PHQ, who was present at the meeting, said the BNP delegation basically expressed their concern over the "ghost cases" and sought the intervention of the IGP.
According to sources, the IGP told the BNP delegation that he was not aware of such incidents and would look into them.
The three other members of the delegation were BNP Joint Secretary General Moazzem Hossain Alal, Publicity Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie and Legal Affairs Secretary Kaiser Kamal.
Meanwhile, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas said the rally would be held at the Nayapaltan office and not at Suhrawardy Udyan.
"The prime minister said there would be no obstruction in the democratic movement. But we are seeing a different picture. A festivity of repressing the opposition party is going on," he told journalists.
