The killing of man in Chittagong, starry incidents of crude bomb explosions, arson attacks, vandalism of vehicles, clashes and arrest of opposition activists marked the first day of the nonstop 84-hour nationwide hartal, enforced by the BNP-led 18-party alliance on Sunday.
The opposition alliance enforced the shutdown on at 6am on Sunday that will continue until 6pm on Wednesday, demanding that the next general election be arranged under a non-party administration.
In Chittagong, Nirmal Das, 42, son of Pranhari Das of Madhyam Madarsah area and an employee of the University of Science and Technology (USTC), was killed in the morning when an auto-rickshaw overturned amid chase by hartal pickets at Katakhali in Hathazari upazila.
According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, at least 100 vehicles were damaged, 160 crude bombs blasted and around 200 people were injured across the country. The law enforcers also arrested at least 180 opposition activists during hartal hours on the first day.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office about the first day of the shutdown, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed claimed that police arrested over 700 opposition activists across the country during the hartal hours, while more than 1,800 were injured in attacks by law enforcers and ‘ruling party cadres’ during the hartal hours.
Over 8,000 opposition men were implicated in fresh ‘false’ cases and four activists sentenced to different term of imprisonment, he added.
In the capital, pro-hartal activists brought out processions in support of the shutdown at different points of the city and locked into clashes with the law enforcers.
Chases and counter-chases between police and hartal supporters were reported at different parts of the city, including Wasa Bhaban, Karwan Bazar, Lalbagh, Rampura, Moghbazar and Shahjadpur, Mirpur, Mohakhali, Demra, Malibagh, Jatrabari, Lalbagh, Tejgaon, Badda and Dahnmondi.
Besides, the hartal pickets blasted around 100 crude bombs at different parts of the capital, including , Mohakhali Wireless Gate, Demra, Malibagh Crossing, Lalbagh, Mirpur, Tejkunipara during the hartal hours.
A cameraman of private satellite TV channel 24 and a reporter of Desh TV were injured when pickets hurled crude bombs near Bangla College at Mirpur-1 and Mouchak.
Educational institutions and most shopping malls remained closed, but government and non-government offices in the capital were open with thin attendance.
Slow-moving rickshaws and auto-rickshaws dominated the city streets during hartal hours as there was a small number of motorised vehicles available for the city commuters. No long-route bus left Mohakhali, Saydabad and Gabtoli terminals since morning fearing vandalism.
Huge law enforcers guarded the city streets to avoid any untoward incident.
A large number of law enforcers were deployed in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office like previous hartal.
Violent incidents like vandalising and torching of vehicles, clashes between hartal pickets and police and ruling party activists, arrest of opposition leaders and activists and crude bomb blasts were also reported from a number of districts, including Laxmipur, Chittagong, Gazipur, Rajshahi, Manikganj, Bogra, Sylhet, Natore, Joypurhat, Barisal, Rangpur, Meherpur, Noakhali, Pirojpur, Chuadanga, Dinajpur, Kishoreganj, Jhenidah, Sherpur, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Khulna, Comilla and Chapainawabganj.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called for the 72-hour shutdown from Sunday 6 am to Tuesday 6 pm from a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office on Friday (Nov 8) after a secretary general-level meeting of the 18-party alliance.
As the government arrested five senior BNP leaders following the hartal call, the 18-party alliance on Saturday extended its 72-hour nationwide hartal by 12 hours to 6 pm Wednesday (Nov 13) in protest against the government’s repressive move.
The 18-party earlier enforced two spells of 60-hour countrywide shutdown -– October 27-29 and November 4-6 — to press for the same demand, which left 20 people killed and over 8,000 people injured across the country. – UNB
