Sporadic bomb explosions and acts of vandalism marked the 18-party alliance’s nationwide day-long shutdown Sunday.
The hartal was enforced protesting the government’s ban on rallies, and demanding the restoration of the caretaker government and the unconditional release of detained opposition leaders. Tight security measures were enforced throughout the capital.
In the capital, rickshaws and auto-rickshaws were in circulation in good numbers and other public transport vehicles could be seen on the streets in the early hours of the general strike. Long-route bus services were suspended at different bus terminals but trains ran as usual.
The police surrounded the BNP’s Naya Paltan headquarters and not much activity was seen in the area.
A mobile court sentenced two protesters to one year in jail each after they were nabbed red-handed with two crude bombs at Tejgaon.
In the morning, pro-shutdown processions were held in Uttara, Shyamali, Azimpur, Badda, Jatrabari among other areas.
Jamaat activists held a procession in the Azimpur area at 5:30am.
Five homemade bombs exploded in the Adabar area around 7am and later at least seven homemade bombs went off in the Wireless Gate area of Mohakhali. The five masked individuals who were seen hurling the crude bombs fled before the police arrived the scene.
Around the same time, some activists vandalised a bus near the Mirpur-10 intersection, destroying its windshield. Two auto-rickshaws were also damaged during a Chhatra Dal procession in the airport area.
Hartal supporters held processions in the Babubazar and Mugda areas of the city. Two cocktails exploded in Sabujbagh at 8am.
Activists of Jubo Dal, the BNP’s youth wing, staged a procession in the Mohammadpur College Gate area at 6am and in the Jatrabari area at 7am.The activists also torched a covered van in Rampura area at 8am.
In Narayanganj, at least 10 people were injured in a clash between BNP and Jubo Dal activists and the police at Charargop at 6am. The protesters vandalised five vehicles including a police van before the police fired blank shots, dispersing them.
Meanwhile, members of the Chhatra Dal city unit on procession the vandalised a BRTC bus and an auto-rickshaw.
In Chittagong, hartal supporters blasted a crude bomb and vandalised two CNG-driven auto-rickshaws in front of the Chittagong Club.
In Sylhet, BNP activists vandalised three rickshaws in the Zindabazar and Bandarbazar areas.
In Chandpur, hartal supporters blockaded roads at Miarbazar and Ghosherhat for half an hour with felled logs and burning tyres. The police detained 59 people from different areas of the district.
Pro-hartal activists in Bograheld processions at different parts of the town. In Satkhira protesters vandalised a battery-run easy bike at Benirpota in the morning.