BNP leaders at a condolence meeting yesterday demanded judicial investigation into the death of BM Bakir Hossain, joint secretary of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, in police custody.

They made the demand in a meeting organised by Bangladesh Banks Employees Federation at the National Press Club.

Speaking as the chief guest, BNP standing committee member and former law minister Moudud Ahmed termed the death a clear violation of human rights and against the rule of law.

He said if the government does not initiate a judicial investigation into the death, it would make clear to all that the government is involved in it.

Terming the immediate past caretaker government illegal and unconstitutional, he also demanded trial of the former army chief General Moeen U Ahmed and chief adviser Fakh ruddin Ahmed.

He also said 129 people

were killed in police custody and crossfire during the last one year of the Awami League government.

Another member of BNP standing committee Nazrul Islam Khan, also the president of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, urged the members and leaders of the federation to provide financial assistance to Bakir's family member for their survival.

He also stressed publishing a biography of Bakir.

Bakir, president of Bangladesh Banks Employees Federation and member of the newly announced national executive committee of BNP, died in custody at a local hospital in the capital on January 7.

On December 22 last year, he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after he fell unconscious in jail.

Federation's acting president Mehedi Ali Khan presided over the meeting while Sramik Dal general secretary Jafrul Hasan and a number of federation leaders also spoke.