DU, Gulshan, Banani off-limits after 8:00pm

Outsiders will be barred from entering the Dhaka University campus, Banani, Gulshan, Baridhara and Hatirjheel areas after 8:00pm tonight.

Md Shafiqul Islam, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said this at a briefing at the DMP Media Centre yesterday.

Those who are not from the DU, Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara areas are discouraged to visit those areas for security reasons, he said.

"However, the residents will be allowed to enter or exit upon identification."

The DMP chief said no one will be able to hold any gathering or programme in Hatirjheel area after 6:00pm today and no one will be allowed to park any vehicle there.

No bar in the capital will remain open after 6:00pm today, Shafiqul said.

Officials said police in Dhaka have banned all kinds of outdoor events on the New Year's Eve, but there is no bar on indoor parties. People are allowed to arrange programmes in hotels on their own on a limited scale.

"Many people organise functions on roofs. We will discourage this as it creates disturbance in the neighborhoods," the DMP chief told reporters.

He urged the city dwellers to refrain from setting off fireworks as it "frightens people and create problems for patients and the elderly."

Restaurants will have to get clearance from the DMP to arrange events on the New Year's Eve, Shafiqul said.

Responding to a query on worldwide festivities on the New Year's Eve and the restrictions in Bangladesh, he said, "Let us be educated like them first, then we will celebrate like them."

The DMP chief said there is no security threat centering the New Year's Eve.