The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday said that prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent visit to Switzerland was very mysterious.

‘Amid a serious dollar crisis, Sheikh Hasina’s frequent foreign trips with a huge entourage and her recent visit to Switzerland are very mysterious. Her statements after coming back home are also mysterious,’ he said.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Naya Paltan central office in Dhaka, Rizvi also said that local and foreign media reported immediately after Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Switzerland with her family that Tk 10,500 crore of Bangladeshis deposited with Swiss banks had been withdrawn.

‘The mystery is deepening over the matter. Who has withdrawn the money in one year? This has become a big question in people’s minds as those involved in unilateral money laundering are all close to the ruling party,’ he said.

The BNP leader said that there was no doubt that the looters belonging to the Awami League had withdrawn Tk10,500 crore from the Swiss bank.

He also said that the prime minister and the ruling party leaders were making ‘reckless’ comments about different countries harming the country’s interest as Awami League had become isolated from the democratic world.

Rizvi alleged that the government had become desperate to suppress the opposition by arresting and repressing the BNP leaders and activists as the countdown to the downfall of the regime had begun.

He said that the law enforcers along with the ruling party ‘cadres’ attacked BNP’s different democratic programmes across the country and file 210 cases against the opposition leaders and activists since May 19.

Besides, the BNP leader said that their party’s around 830 leaders and activists had been arrested and around 9,300 had been implicated in ‘false’ cases.

He warned that the names of those who were obstructing the peaceful programmes of the BNP were being listed.