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Hartal sees patchy fights between police and pickets

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Riot police clashed with hundreds of pro-hartal activists of the main opposition Awami League (AL) and its front organisations in different parts of the city yesterday, firing rubber bullets and lobbing teargas canisters to disperse them.
More than 100 activists of the opposition were injured in the clashes at Dhanmondi, Bangabandhu Avenue and other places in the city, while another 100 people were reportedly picked up by police. Pickets blasted about 50 handmade crackers and threw brickbats on police during the turbulent hours.
Riot police clubbed processionists, fired teargas shells and were engaged in chase and counter-chase at Dhanmondi at about 11:00am. "Road no 32 (old) of Dhanmondi turned into a battlefield for nearly four hours since 11:00 in the morning when hartal pickets and law enforcers clashed with each other," said a resident of the area. The crowd blasted handmade bombs and police retaliated by firing from shotguns and lobbing teargas shells.
The Awami League enforced the countrywide hartal to protest price hike of essentials owing to measures in the new budget and lack of security in public life. The party enforced another hartal on June 12 and its student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, a half day hartal on June 19.
Yesterday's hartal witnessed the most violent mood of the opposition
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workers since the AL lost power in the October 2001 elections.
Police were seen beating the hartal pickets and Obaidul Qader, joint secretary of the AL, was among those hurt in Dhanmondi. Women activists of the opposition also came under attack by female police. AL leaders alleged that two of their female workers were assaulted at the Dhanmondi Police Station after being picked up by police.
At about 12:45pm the pro-hartal demonstrators came under another attack by police when they tried to break a police cordon near Russel Square in Dhanmondi.
Police fired at least 20 rounds of rubber bullets and were countered by a similar number of handmade bombs by pickets at about 2:00pm at the same place. Police attacked the crowd when they attempted to burn the effigy of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, parliamentary affairs advisor to the prime minister.
AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told the BBC radio that attack on his party men during hartal hours was part of the repressive measures of the government. But Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ashraful Huda said the police response was needed to ensure public security. He said about 100 people including nine women were arrested during yesterday's hartal.
Police charged baton on a procession at Bangabandhu Avenue at
about 7:30am and damaged chairs entering the ground floor of the AL central office.
When the demonstrators attempted to break the police cordon at the western end of Bangabandhu Avenue, some processionists hurled brickbats on a police vehicle prompting the policemen to hit back. At least eight AL activists were injured in the police attack. Police also picked up 11 AL workers.
Police sealed off all entrances to Bangabandhu Avenue from the early hours yesterday by placing barbedwire fences.
Police also went into action against Awami League processions in other parts of the city. They charged batons on processions led by advocate Rahmat Ali and Rahmatullah at Banani, Saber Hossain Chowdhury at Malibagh and Haji Selim at Lalbagh. Police cordoned off AL leader Kamal Ahmed Mazumder and other activists for several hours since early morning at Mirpur. In Malibagh, Maniruzzaman, a police havilder, was injured by brickbats. Police attacked pro-hartal activists in Mohammadpur, Gulshan, Uttara, Jatrabari and Chawkbazar in old part of the city.
One Abu Ali Hossain, a resident of 75, Banogram, Sutrapur, sustained injury in his left hand as pickets hurled a bomb on him at about 11:45am near the water tank in Banogram. Hartal pickets set a staff bus afire at Mirpur and damaged two other vehicles in the city.
Witnesses said shops and schools and most of the business houses remained closed and automobiles remained off the streets, disrupting public life in the city during the dawn to dusk shutdown.
In Chittagong, the hartal passed off peacefully excepting some stray incidents. Most vehicles remained off the roads while four vehicles were damaged by pickets.