36-hr strike underway amid stray incidents

A 36-hour general strike enforced by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies protesting power price hike proposal and the government’s ‘conspiracy of sabotage acts and arrest of 10,000 leaders and activists of BNP-led coalition’ began on Sunday amid stray incidents across the country. On Saturday the party announced the strike through a press release signed by BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. The call for general strike coincided with the demise news of Arafat Rahman, the youngest son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia and former president Ziaur Rahman. He died of a massive heart attack in Malaysia on Saturday. Miscreants threw a crude bomb on a Sadarghat bound bus in the city that left five people injured at Kawranbazar in between Lavinchi residential hotel and Farmgate at around 10:30am. The identities of the injured were not available immediately. In Dhaka pickets were hardly seen on the roads while the number of vehicles was almost normal, according to private cable TV news. The law enforcers were deployed around the city.

In Demra and Kadamtoli, police detained 30 activists in their pre-emptive action early Sunday. In Munshiganj a covered van was torched at Bausia area of Dhaka-Chittagong highway on Saturday night. Long route vehicles did not move this morning, reports our correspondent. In Bogra police recovered at least six crude bombs from a location in the town and arrested 10 Shibir activists. Meanwhile, United News of Bangladesh reported that miscreants launched arson attack on two buses at a bus terminal of Naogaon district early Sunday, hours before 36-hour nationwide shutdown set in. Quoting locals, officer-in-charge of sadar police station, Jakirul Islama said miscreants set two buses—Dhaka-bound ‘TR Travels’ and ‘Dipjol Enterprise’—on fire which were parked in the terminal area at about 4:00 am. Informed, two fire fighting units rushed in and put out the blaze. In Pabna city, miscreants set 2 buses on fire. In Noakhali, some pro-strike activists set a truck on blaze. While in Barisal they arson attacked a bus at Nokul embankment bus terminal. Earlier, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had called the indefinite blockade from January 6 as the government did not allow her party and allies to hold protest rallies, marking January 5 as ‘ Democracy Killing Day’ in the capital.

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