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Violence swells in city streets

BNP office torched; BSS office attacked; shops, vehicles vandalised

Staff Correspondent
Streets in a tense Dhaka filled with fury last night, as angry Awami League (AL) activists went on the rampage torching a BNP office, damaging the office of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and vandalising over 100 shops and 90 vehicles.
Arsonists bursting from a procession
of 10,000 people torched the BNP office next to Golapshah Mazaar in Gulistan minutes after they smashed two police barricades at Zero Point in protest at Saturday's grenade attacks on an AL rally that killed at least 18 people.
The same group attacked the office of the state-run news agency SEE PAGE 11 COL 7 From Page 1
and looted and damaged over 100 shops along Topkhana Road yesterday evening. Some shop owners alleged the demonstrators looted Tk 7,000 from them and damaged outdoor billboards.
Policemen at Paltan Crossing fired two to three gunshots and rubber bullets in a knee-jerk reaction to disperse the unruly activists as they went damaging vehicles in front of the National Press Club.
The same group sent a swell of panic earlier, breaking pottery on display in front of Curzon Hall and picking up brickbats to hurl at paramilitary and police forces lining the streets.
Mid-level leaders of the AL and its front organisations calmed them down to keep it a peaceful procession to mourn the dead, while some others took it as an opportunity to avenge the grenade attack victims.
With the procession reaching the Central Shaheed Minar, senior AL leaders such as Abdul Jalil and Motia Chowdhury made brief speeches at a short-lived rally and the same unruly activists threw brickbats at Bangladesh Rifles men watching the gathering.
Provoked by taunts and brickbats, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel threw the brickbats back and pointed their guns at the mob prompting a brief stand-off.
Both BDR men and angry AL activists were then pulled back by on-duty
Assistant Commissioner (Patrol South) AKM Ehsan Ullah and mid-level AL leaders.
The rally over, leaders and most activists left and the unruly group marched towards Paltan Crossing through Topkhana Road where they unleashed the rampage.
The police swooped on the group and dispersed them with batons into small alleys of Shegunbagicha and Naya Paltan. The police patrolled the area until 8:00pm.
From afternoon onwards, traffic was thin as buses and private cars kept off the roads fearing violent aftershocks from Saturday's grenade attacks.
Rumours of curfews and heavy riot police presence restricting entry to Motijheel and Gulistan bent office timetables.
oTHER FLASHPoINTS
The violent incidents were reported in parts of Dhaka: seven to eight buses were damaged in Mouchak and Maghbazar areas.
Shops were damaged in Mohammadpur, while two vehicles damaged on North-South Road. Violence swept through Motijheel, Jatrabari and Palashi.
At least 10 people were picked up from the flash points in Dhaka. Violent AL activists damaged at least 80 vehicles in Malibagh, Kakrail, Rampura and Badda.