The daylong general strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami passed off without incident in the capital and no untoward situation was reported elsewhere in the country either.
The city remained busy as usual, with people commuting to their workplaces by both public and private transports, and businesses opening on time. There were also queues of passengers waiting for transports at many bus stops.
The number of buses and other public transports was not very high on the road in the morning but it increased as time went by.
Long-haul buses also left for their destinations in different districts across the country when the strike was in force.
Dhaka residents said they were initially fearful of falling prey to violence on the road and were reluctant to go out, but nothing bad happened eventually.
Police sources said none was detained during pre-shutdown raids in the capital.
The strike was peaceful in Dhaka, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sarder.
On Wednesday, Jamaat called the strike after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for the party’s ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami in the appeal seeking his acquittal.
Meanwhile, like Dhaka, the strike drew a lukewarm response in Chittagong and no untoward incident happened.
Additional security forces were deployed in the port city to ward off possible acts of violence, said Debdas Bhattacharya, additional commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.
Jamaat members brought out no procession in support of the strike.
A good number of public and private transports were seen on city streets during the strike while heavy vehicles and long-haul transports also left for their destinations.
But classes were not held at educational institutions.
Chittagong Export Processing Zone sources said operations inside the zone continued in full swing and workers also showed up for work like regular days.
Operations at Chittagong port also remained normal as goods were loaded and unloaded without any disruption.
Chittagong Railway Station sources said train services were not disrupted.