Police pledge security to the examinees of Secondary School Certificate and equivalent exams on their way to exam centres amid growing concern over the students safety during the countrywide blockade imposed by BNP-led 20-Party Alliance.

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque came up with the promise at a press briefing at police headquarters in Dhaka on Saturday.

The SSC and its equivalent examinations will commence simultaneously under the country’s 10 education boards, including one of madrasah and another technical board, on February 2.

Examinees and their parents are worried about the safety as political violences in last one month claimed hundreds of lives.

20-Party leader Khaleda Zia called the indefinite blockade on 6 January in a rapid reaction after the government refused permission to the alliance to hold a rally in Dhaka on 5 January.

Meanwhile, the 20-party alliance on Friday called a 72-hour nationwide hartal from 6:00am on Sunday as part of its movement it is claiming to restore democracy and people’s voting right. 

IGP in his speech said additional police force will be deployed in major roads alongside regular patrolling during the exams.

The police chief also sought cooperation from the public and politicians in this regard.

'Those who have enforced hartal and blockade should withdraw the programmes considering the future of 15 lakh students,' he said.

 'If not, they should keep the SSC examinations out of the purview of hartal and blockade,' he said. 

'Police will show zero tolerance against the anarchist and the saboteurs,' Shahidul Hoque said urging BNP to stop ambush attempts in the name of movements.

A total of 1,479, 256 students have registered their names under the 10 educational boards to appear in the examinations in 3,116 centres from 27,808 institutions across the country. Of the total students 7,63,339 are boys and the 7,15,927 girls.  

Some 11,10,339 students will appear from general education board, while 2,56,380 from madrasah and 1,10,295 from technical board.

Two hundred and ninety-seven students will appear in the public examinations from abroad in eight centres.