The 3rd day of the 72-hour opposition’s road-rail-waterway blockade
passed off amid bomb blasts, vandalism, clashes, arson attacks on
buses and railways across the country on Monday, leaving two people
dead. The 18-party, meanwhile, extended its blockade programme by
further three days till 5 pm on Thursday. According to reports
reaching the UNB news desk, Rubel Hossain, 20, a human-hauler driver
was shot dead and 20 people were injured in a clash between the
activists of Awami League and the BNP-led 18-party alliance during the
blockade at Pukuria village in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj in
the afternoon. Besides, Saifuzzaman Sujon, 24, joint secretary of
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal Poura unit was shot dead and 15 others were
injured in a clash with Awami League activists at Kanaikhali in Natore
district town during a daylong hartal enforced by local BNP in the
district protesting the arrest of Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu. In the
capital, the blockade was marked by clashes between police and the
blockaders and explosions of crude bombs at different parts of the
city. There were 19 bomb explosions in five areas, including North
Badda, Madhya Badda, Bhatara (Coca Cola), Khilgaon and Karwan Bazar in
the morning. Picketers set fire to a Leguna (human hauler) and a
CNG-auto-rickshaw at Armanitola at about 10am. Rickshaws and
auto-rickshaws dominated the city streets in the morning. However,
no long-route buses left Mohakhali, Saydabad and Gabtoli terminals
since morning fearing vandalism. But local busses were seen plying,
though with few passengers, the city roads. The train communications
on Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Sylhet, Tangail-Jamalpur,
Dhaka-Parbatipur, Khulna-Parbatipur and Dhaka-Ishwardi routes remained
suspended for several hours following the removal of fishplates and
uprooting of rail tracks allegedly by blockaders. The train services
on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Sylhet routes resumed in the
afternoon after 20 hours of suspension following the derailment of an
intercity train in Burichang upazila due to the removal of fishplates
on Sunday night. At least 40 people were injured as the locomotive
and four bogies of the Dhaka-bound ‘Mahanagar Godhuli Express’ train
from Chittagong veered off the tracks in between Rajapur and Shasidal
railway stations around 7:45pm after the miscreants uprooted the
fishplates. The rail links on the Tangail-Jamalpur route were restored
in the afternoon after 15 hours of suspension. The train services on
the Dhaka-Parbatipur and Khulna-Parbatipur routes resumed in the
morning after five hours of suspension. Shariful Islam,
officer-in-charge of Shantahar Government Railway Police (GRP)
Station, said the train services on the two routes were suspended
around 4:45am after the blockaders removed fishplates from rail tracks
at Darbhanga in Adamdighi upazila of Bogra. Meanwhile, the rail
links on the Dhaka-Ishwardi route were restored after five hours of
suspension, also due to the removal of fishplates near Kuitanga Bridge
in Ullapara of Sirajganj district during the ongoing blockade on
Monday. Incidents of violence are also being reported from different
parts of the country, including Chittagong, Gazipur, Rajshahi,
Chapainawabganj, Laxmipur and Barisal districts. In Chittagong,
blockade supporters clashed with cops and set fire to a number of
vehicles on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda upazila from Sunday
night until Monday morning, leaving seven people injured. Truck driver
Yasin Ali, 31, sustained burn injuries during an arson attack on his
truck during the overnight violence. Besides, several crude bombs
were exploded in front of offices of divisional commissioner and
deputy commissioner at old court building in the port city during
submission of nomination papers on Monday afternoon. In Gazipur,
blockaders in a sudden attack hurled bombs targeting the motorcade of
Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Minister
Syed Ashraful Islam in Tongi upazila on Monday morning. Later, the
attackers vandalised several vehicles on the road, but the minister’s
motorcade managed to cross the area safely. The opposition combine
enforced the second spell of blockade from 6:00am on Saturday,
demanding cancellation of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary
elections billed for January 5 and protesting the filing of ‘false
cases’ against its leaders and activists. The blockade is also meant
for protesting the denial of permission to BNP to hold a rally at
Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday afternoon and the continued repression
and oppression on opposition leaders and activists. On November 25,
the Election Commission declared the schedule for the country’s 10th
parliamentary elections. The deadline for submission of nominations
is today (Dec 2), while the dates for the scrutiny of nomination
papers are December 5 and 6, and the last date for withdrawal of
candidature is December 13. The second day of the blockade passed
off on Sunday amid violence, disrupting the normal life and wreaking
havoc on the economy and education across the country. – UNB
