Arson marks first day of hartal

A woman in Barisal and three other people in Feni received burn injuries in petrol bomb attacks, as incidents of arson, vandalism and petrol and crude bomb explosions marked the first day of the 48-hour general strike called by the BNP-led alliance on Wednesday. Vandalism and arson of buses and trucks were reported in the capital, Chittagong, Mymensingh, Sunamganj, Gazipur and Khulna. Crude bombs exploded near a High Court judge’s house while a teachers’ bus of Jangannth University was torched. Over 300 BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists were arrested across the country from Tuesday midnight to Wednesday afternoon. Police arrested five activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, including its Banani unit president Mustafizur Rahman, at TB gate of Mohakhali in the city early Wednesday, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner [media] Masudur Rahman. Police also recovered 130 crude bombs, one kilogram of gunpowder, two litres of petrol, five kilograms of stone chips and three kilograms of multi-pointed nails (used in stopping vehicles) from their possession, around 3:00am, he added. Four people were injured when miscreants hurled six to seven crude bombs at the Teacher-Student Centre and Hakim Chattar in the evening. Three police constables were also hurt when a crude bomb went off at Chittagong town’s Chandgaon area in the evening.

BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the ‘peaceful’ general strike and blockade would continue despite government’s propaganda that BNP was killing people and creating anarchy. The BNP-led alliance called the general strike in protest against extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and arrest of its leaders and activities throughout the country. In Barisal, at least one woman received burn injury and five others were injured in an arson attack on a bus early Wednesday, reported our correspondent there. Blockaders hurled a petrol bomb at a Kuakata-bound bus of Abdullah Paribahan that had started from Syedabad in Dhaka. The bus came under attack around 1:00am when it reached Turya Filling Station near Barisal University, said Rezaul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bandar police station. The attack left six people injured. Of them, Reshma Begum, 31, received burn injuries. Among the injured, three were sent to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital, he said. In Feni, three people received burn injuries in a petrol bomb attack on an auto rickshaw at Dudhmukha bazaar on Feni-Bashurhat road Tuesday night, said Daganbhuiyan police OC Abul Faisal. The injured — auto-rickshaw driver Shahjahan, passengers Saddam and Manik — were sent to Sadar hospital, he said, adding some 12 activists of BNP and Jamaat were arrested in connection with the incident. The hartal in the capital affected city dwellers more on Wednesday than the recent agitation led by the BNP-led alliance. Long route buses stayed off the roads while city services were thin, which troubled commuters. Rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws populated city streets. Trains suffered from schedule disarray. Most private vehicles stayed off the roads and markets were mostly closed. Police guarded the key points in the capital. Armoured personnel carriers, water canons and prison vans, backed by riot police, were posted at Naya Paltan while police and Rapid Action Battalion patrolled the city streets. A few motorised vehicles were seen plying the main roads in the capital Wednesday evening. In Khulna, the hartal passed amid stray incidents of clashes between police and BNP-Jamaat activists, crude bomb explosions, use of rubber bullets and teargas shells by law enforcers, reported our correspondent. In the capital, unidentified miscreants set fire to a teachers’ bus at Jagannath University campus around 11.30am in front of the new building of the university, said Kotwali police officer-in-charge Abul Hasan. No casualties, however, were reported. Unknown miscreants exploded a crude bomb near the residence of High Court judge Abu Taher Mohammad Saifur Rahman in Dhanmondi Wednesday evening. The miscreants fled the scene after exploding the bomb on a road no 7/A , Rezaul Karim, Dhaka Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner of Dhanmondi, said. Two crude bombs exploded in front of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court in old Dhaka around 1:15pm, witnesses said. However, no one was injured. Miscreants set fire to a bus at Kalyanpur around 7:45am. Besides, pickets set off two crude bombs in front of Holland Centre Shopping Complex at Badda around 7:30am. In Gazipur, one private car was torched in Gazipur near Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute around 8:00am, reported our correspondent there. In Narayanganj, BNP men brought out a procession led by ATM Kamal, general secretary of the city BNP unit, around 7:30am at M Circus in the city.  Police chased them away and arrested Kamal along with two others from the spot. The pro-hartal activists also set fire to a pick-up van in front of Agricultural Research Institute in the city around 7:30am. In Chittagong, blockaders torched a truck carrying wood at Ichhapur area of Hathazari at about 6:00am, reported our correspondent there, quoting Hathazari police sub-inspector Hafizur Rahman. In Mymenshingh, miscreants torched a bus after calling down the passengers at Bagar Bazaar area of Trishal, reported our correspondent there. Police arrested 15 BNP activists from the district including vice-chairman of Fulbaria upazila, Mahbuba Sultana Runa. In Sunamganj, the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists vandalized and torched 20 buses and human haulers at Kazir point, Station road and Old bus stand at about 12:00pm, reported our correspondent there, quoting Sadar police OC Mokbul Hossain. Meanwhile, over 300 of BNP and Jamaat activists were arrested in Bogra, Chandpur, Kushtia, Meherpur, Chittagong, Chuadanga, Satkhira, Narayanganj, Noakhali, Jessore, Madaripur, Manikganj, Sunamganj, Meherpur and Cox’s Bazaar, reported our correspondents at the districts.

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