Dhaka – Violence escalated across the country on the third day of the opposition’s nonstop blockade on Friday, two days ahead of the 10th parliamentary elections, leaving two people dead in Dinajpur.
Incidents of arson attack, vandalism and crude bomb blast were reported from different parts of the country, including the capital.In Dinajpur, a truck driver, Shawnewaz, 30, and an onion trader, Adilur Rahman, 25, were killed and three people injured as the truck tumbled into a ditch after a petrol bomb attack on it by blockaders at Bonagram near Hili Land Port in the early hours.
In the capital, three people suffered burn injuries as miscreants set fire to a bus by hurling a petrol bomb at Paribagh. Two more buses were torched in Abdullahpur and Gulistan.
Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members recovered 20 petrol bombs from a slum in the city’s Agargaon area in the early hours.
In Feni, miscreants set fire to five polling centres by hurling petrol bombs in Feni-3 constituency in Daganbhuiyan upazila in the early hours.
In Laxmipur, miscreants hurled several crude bombs at the residence of Awami League rebel candidate from Laxmipur-1 constituency Mohammad
Shafiqul Islam at Badur village in Ramganj upazila on Thursday night.
In Chapainawabganj, a truck driver and his helper received burn injuries as the truck was set ablaze while fleeing the impending bomb
attack by a group of blockaders at Kansat in Shibganj upazila early in the morning.
In Comilla, miscreants torched two election offices of Awami League at Subarnapur Bazar in Sadar upazila early in the morning. Five shops
were also gutted in the arson attack.
In Chittagong, three election offices of Awami League and Jatiya Party candidates were torched in Patiya upazila in the early hours.
In Rajshahi, police recovered 14 crude bombs from a park near BNP office in the city on Thursday night.
In Bogra, a local leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir was injured in a bomb explosion while he was carrying it in Jamil Nagar area of the
district on Friday morning.
Besides, over 20 vehicles were either torched or vandalised while several crude bombs blasted and some 20 people were injured in clashes
between the blockaders and cops and ruling party men in various districts, including Chandpur, Pabna, Bhola, Narayanganj, Gaibandha
and Moulvibazar.
Law enforcers arrested around 100 opposition men from different districts while 13 Jamaat-Shibir men jailed in Pabna.
The blockade programme, announced on Monday, would continue until further announcement.
The second day of the blockade was marked by stray incidents of violence that left a Tarun League leader dead in Lalmonirhat on
Thursday.
The opposition alliance has been on nonstop agitation programmes since the Election Commission announced the election schedule on November 25
fixing the balloting date for January 5.
The 18-party has already enforced countrywide road-rail-waterway blockade for 22 days (501 hours) since November 26 in five spells
–71-hour, 131-hour, 144-hour and 72-hour and 83-hour ones — after the announcement of the election schedule that left at least 120 people
dead. – UNB
