The second day of the 48-hour nationwide hartal, enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, passed off amid stray incidents of clashes, vandalism and crude bomb blasts across the country, leaving a Shibir leader dead. Islami Chhatra Shibir’s 88-ward unit president Khalilur Rahman, 22, was shot dead reportedly in a clash with police in the capital’s Jatrabari area during the first hours of the second day hartal. Jahirul Islam Joni, a cameraman of television channel Bangla Vision, also suffered injuries during the clash. Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan in a statement on Wednesday said the reports by some media about curtailing the party’s 48-hour hartal by 12 hours was incorrect. He said the shutdown will remain in force until 6:00am on August 15 and urged the country’s people to observe it spontaneously. According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, 12 vehicles were damaged, 38 crude bombs blasted and 40 people were injured across the country. The law enforcers also arrested over 50 Jamaat-Shibir men during the second day of the hartal. Sources at the Ministry of Home Affairs said Jamaat-Shibir men torched and vandalised five vehicles across the country throughout the day. Besides, they set off 26 cocktails till 4:00 pm on Wednesday since 6:00 am. However, there was no report of major violent clash or casualty except some sporadic incidents across the country, the sources added. In the capital, pro-hartal supporters locked into clashes with police as the law enforcers foiled their attempts to bring out processions in the city’s different areas. Witnesses said around 10 crude bombs were exploded in different parts of the capital, including Sayedabad Janapad, Jatrabari, Palatan, Bijoynagar and Adabor during the hartal hours since Wednesday at 6 am. Pickets tried to set a truck on fire near Adabor thana, but police dispersed them in a hot chase. At Moghbazar level crossing, hartal supporters tried to torch the slippers of the rail track at 7:30am, but police dispersed them. Elsewhere in the city, pro-hartal elements were hardly seen as additional security personnel, comprising police and Rab men, were deployed at all the key points and intersections to avert any untoward incident during the Islamist party’s shutdown. Rickshaws and auto-rickshaws outnumbered the motirised vehicles on the city streets as always seen during hartal days. The movement of commuters was less as many people failed to return to their workplaces from their village homes due to the shutdown that followed the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays. Sporadic incidents of violence were also reported from different districts across the country. The districts include Chittagong, Laxmipur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Natore, Satkhira, Bogra, Chapainawabganj,Sirajganj,Suanmganj, Pabna and Comilla. Hours after the High Court declared illegal its registration as a political party, Jamaat on August 1 called a 48-hour countrywide hartal for August 12 and 13. Later, it deferred the general strike by one day to August 13 and 14. (Sources: UNB)
