As part of its ongoing protest programmes, the BNP has decided to hold a rally in the capital on February 22, demanding release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The rally will be held either at Suhrawardy Udyan or in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP senior joint secretary general, announced while addressing a press briefing at the party's headquarters.

The BNP leader said they had already sought permission from the authorities concerned for holding the programme.

Rizvi also said the party's countrywide mass signature campaign demanding the release of Khaleda would formally begin at the central office at 11:00am today.

He claimed that more than 4,650 BNP activists had been arrested across the country since January 30.

On Thursday, the BNP declared fresh agitation programmes, including submitting memorandums to all deputy commissioners on Sunday and staging demonstrations in all district towns and metropolitan cities, except Dhaka, on Tuesday.

On February 8, Khaleda was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case by a special court in Dhaka. She was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the case.

Soon after her conviction, the BNP announced countrywide demonstrations on February 9 and 10. Later, it staged protests from Monday to Wednesday.