Curfew relaxed from 7am to 8pm Wednesday to Saturday

The government has decided to relax the ongoing curfew for 13 hours for the next four days, from Wednesday to Saturday.

The curfew will remain in force from 8:00pm to 7:00am on these four days.

The decision will be effective for four districts -- Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Narsingdi. In other districts, the local administration will decide on the curfew.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan made the disclosure today around 6:45pm after a special meeting at the Secretariat regarding the ongoing situation after the violence centring the quota reform movement.

The home boss said the violence did not stop even after accepting all the demands of the students during the quota movement.

"So, we were forced to impose a curfew. We discussed the peace and law-and-order situation across the country. The curfew will be relaxed from 7:00am to 8:00pm from Wednesday to Saturday. Besides, the education minister will decide when the educational institutions will open. Considering the technical issues, the state minister for ICT will decide when the internet will be fully restored," he said.

The nearly three-and-a-half-hour-long meeting, attended by the seven ministers and state ministers, started around 3:20pm.

With Asaduzzaman in chair, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, State Minister for Labour and Employment Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, and State Minister for Post, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, among others, attended the meeting.

Secretaries and senior secretaries of the ministries concerned, inspector general of police, director general of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), and top officials of law enforcement and intelligence agencies were also present at the meeting.