Bangladesh blocks more online apps for security
Dhaka, Jan 19 : A day after Bangladesh blocked internet calling and messaging services Viber and Tango for "security reasons", the authorities Monday blocked WhatsApp, mypeople and Line on the same grounds. A Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) official, who preferred not to be named, confirmed the government's decision to Xinhua. The authorities said subversive activities, including bomb and arson attacks, were carried out by miscreants using such services during the opposition alliance's countrywide non-stop blockade since Jan 6. Former Bangladeshi prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia Monday announced that her party will continue the blockade. Zia called the blockade Jan 5 when police barred her from leaving her office to lead anti-government agitations. The BNP-led opposition alliance had boycotted the general election in Bangladesh in January last year and has been pressing for fresh elections since then. Zia's 20-party opposition alliance has been observing a non-stop blockade across the country demanding fresh elections under a non-party caretaker government system. According to Xinhua, the wave of violence has so far left 25 people dead and several hundreds injured as anti-government protesters battled with law enforcers, attacked rivals, torched vehicles and targeted railway since Jan 6 when the opposition alliance enforced a nationwide, non-stop rail-road-waterway blockade. Zia, however, has denied the involvement of her alliance in the violence.
