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Hartal added to blockade

Opposition calls shutdown in Dhaka, 10 other dists for today

Star Report
With a 72-hour nationwide blockade well in force, the BNP and its associate organisations have called hartal in 11 districts, including Dhaka, for today and in 22 districts for tomorrow.
Justifying the shutdowns in half the country, BNP leaders say the blockade is a BNP-led 18-party alliance programme while hartal is part of agitation by the BNP and its associate bodies for the release of their detained leaders and activists.
BNP's Dhaka city unit is enforcing a 12-hour hartal from 6:00am today in the capi-
tal to protest the arrest and remand of its Convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka, also vice president of the party.
The party unit earlier said it would enforce a 24-hour shutdown today. But last night it decided to halve the hartal hours, said Ali Azgar Matabbar, office secretary of the unit.
In a pre-blockade sabotage in Munshiganj yesterday, a bus helper, who was asleep inside a bus, suffered severe burns, as opposition activists set alight two parked buses near Mawa launch terminal around 2:30am. They also torched two launches anchored at the terminal.
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The blockaders attacked a convoy of Border Guard Bangladesh in Jessore and a magistrate's car in Chapainawabganj, and also torched a policeman's motorbike in Gazipur yesterday, the first day of the 72-hour blockade of roads, rail and waterways that began at 6:00am.
I lowever, the extent of violence and damage was apparently lesser than in the previous days.
The BNP-led alliance has enforced countrywide blockade thrice in the last two weeks, demanding suspension of the election schedule, installation of a non-party government to oversee the next polls and the release of its detained leaders.
In the capital, a man and his six-year-old son were hit by stray pellets as police fired on blockaders, who exploded crude bombs near Malibagh Bazar around 11:30am yesterday.
Injured Abdul Majed, 35, and his son Mahir Ahmed were released after being given first aid at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Blockaders also set fire to a parked bus at Jatrabari around 3:45am and another in front of the Dhaka Judge's Court in Old Dhaka around 9:00pm.
Meanwhile, a mobile court sentenced four activists of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, to imprisonment for different terms, ranging from four to six months, for possessing crude bombs.
Police arrested them from a procession brought out at Rampura in the capital.
I lundreds of goods-laden vehicles that left the Chittagong port for the capital on Thursday and Friday after the 131-hour blockade remained stranded on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway yesterday due to the fresh spell of blockade.
Though law enforcers, especially highway police, took measures to ensure safety of goods-carrying vehicles on the highway, many of the
vehicles took shelters at different points to avoid attacks by blockaders, reports our Chittagong Correspondent.
BNP's student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal is enforcing dawn-to-dusk hartals today in Chittagong, Patuakhali and Khagrachhari, demanding the release of its president and general secretary.
It has also called shutdowns for tomorrow in Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet divisions and Narail.
JCD's Narsingdi district unit enforced a daylong hartal in the town yesterday, protesting the arrest of JCD President Abdul Kader Bhuiyan Jewel on Friday night.
Jatiyatabadi Swechhasebak Dal, another associate body of the BNP, is enforcing a dawn-to-dusk hartal today in Sylhet division, demanding immediate release of its central leaders and withdrawal of "false cases" against its central and local leaders.
Sylhet city and district units of the 18-party alliance have called hartal in the district for Wednesday, demanding the release of its leaders.
The BNP-led alliance has called dawn-to-dusk hartals for today and tomorrow in Bogra, protesting "the conspiracy" against BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman and leaders of the 18-party alliance.
The main opposition party has also called dawn-to-dusk shutdowns in Moulvibazar for today and tomorrow, and in Titas upazila of Comilla for today.
During the blockade in Jessore yesterday, a BGB convoy carrying its regional commander came under attack from Jamaat-Shibir men at Rupdia Bazar around 3:00pm. BGB personnel opened fire to disperse the attackers.
There was no report of any casualty, said police.
Lt Col Motiur Rahman, commanding officer of Jessore 26 BGB battalion, said the attackers pelted the convoy with brickbats and exploded crude bombs on the Jessore-Khulna highway.
Brigadier Shamsur Rahman, south-western region commander of the BGB, was travelling with the convoy to the Jessore headquarters from Khulna, he said.
In Munshiganj, blockaders set ablaze two anchored launches and two buses near Mawa launch terminal a couple of hours before the blockade began.
Locals put out the flames in the two launches -MV Rajib-2 and MV Masum, said Abul Kalam, officer-in-charge of Louhajang Police Station.
Opposition activists also vandalised another vessel, MVSajal-1, anchored at the terminal.
Blockaders torched a bus of Great Bikrampur Paribahan and another of Gangchil Paribahan parked near the terminal around 3:15am, said the police officer.
Fire-fighters from Srinagar fire station went to the spot and doused the flames.
In Chapainawabganj, blockaders hurled brickbats at a vehicle carrying a magistrate at Khoirabad around 10:30am, said Yeasir Arefin, upazila nirbahi officer of Gomostapur.
The magistrate escaped unhurt though the vehicle's windows were shattered, he said.
Arefin said police arrested Sajjad Hossain, president of Swechhasebak Dal upazila unit, in connection with the incident.
In a separate incident, miscreants set fire to an Awami League office at Gunaritala union in Jamalpur nearly three hours before the blockade. The local AL unit blamed the BNP for the arson attack.