Two more were killed and over 70 injured on Thursday on the second day of the 48-hour hartal enforced by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death penalty handed down to war criminal Abdul Quader Molla.
One of the two deceased was a Jamaat activist, who was killed in Meherpur in a clash with police. The other was a passenger of an auto-rickshaw who was allegedly killed by pickets in Sirajganj.
Incidents of clashes, arson attacks, vandalism and explosions also took place in the capital and elsewhere in the country. Law enforcers arrested many leaders and activists of Jamaat and its students front Islami Chhatra Shibir from different parts of the country.
On Wednesday the first day of the shutdown pickets allegedly killed the driver of an auto-rickshaw in Noakhali.
Jamaat called the hartal on Tuesday soon after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court sentenced the Jamaat assistant secretary general to death, overruling the International Crimes Tribunal judgement that had given him life term for crimes committed against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Jamaat acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan on Thursday claimed that around 300 party activists were injured in police actions and 500 were arrested by police during the 48-hour hartal.
Meherpur: Apart from the death of Jamaat activist Delwar Hossain, 40, about 50 others, including policemen, were injured in clashes between law enforcers and pickets in Mujibnagar upazila. Of the injured, Abdul Mannan, sub-inspector of Mujibnagar police station, who sustained critical injuries during the clash, was shifted to the Combined Medical Hospital (CMH) in Jessore. His condition was stated to be critical as he remained unconscious. Two cases were filed against 300 leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir.
Sirajganj: The deceased passenger of the CNG-run auto-rickshaw was identified as Masud Hossain, 27. He sustained injuries after pickets attacked him at Sirajganj Sadar upazila. Witnesses said the auto-rickshaw skidded off the road after being chased by the pickets, who then swooped on the vehicle and mercilessly beat up Masud and Alam, the other passenger.
Dhaka: Pickets clashed with police in Azimpur around 7:30am. During the clashes that followed, Jamaat-Shibir men hurled several crude bombs while police fired several rounds of teargas canisters. In the older part of Dhaka, Shibir men exploded at least seven crude bombs near the Jagannath University around 2:30pm.
Rab members arrested two people with a shooter gun, three crude bombs, gun powders and other explosives-making materials. In another drive, Jatrabari police arrested 10 Shibir men at around 9:00am.
Gazipur: A bus driver along with 10 passengers were injured when Jamaat-Shibir men torched the bus on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Vogra bypass area in Joydevpur Upazila. Witnesses said a group of pickets disguised as passengers boarded on the bus and torched it around 8:30am. Injured driver Nazrul Islam, 45, was first admitted to a local clinic with severe burn injuries and later shifted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Bogra: A 50-year-old truck driver named Shamsul Haque was injured as pro-hartal activists set fire to his vehicle on the Dhaka-Bogra highway at Doshmail in Sherpur upazila around 10:00pm. He taken to the DMCH with severe burn injuries. Six Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists, including Vice-Chairman of Sherpur upazila unit Advocate Abdul Halim, were arrested in connection with the attack.
Comilla: Four covered vans were vandalized and several crude bombs were exploded in Chouddagram upazila.
In Sylhet: Jamaat-Shibir men vandalised a vehicle used by police and hurled bricks targeting the policemen. Police detained one picket from the spot and seven others in connection with vandalism.
Barisal: Three pickets were jailed by a mobile court for torching three buses and vandalising a covered van in the C&B Colony area on Thursday morning.
Rajshahi: At least four activists of Bangaldesh Chhatra League and one of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal were injured in a clash between the activists of Shibir and Chhatra Leaue on Thursday afternoon. Chhatra League claimed that a group of Shibir activists attacked their activists in the Mirzapur area in Rajshahi city. The injured were identified as Prasenjit Das, Saddam Hossain, Nahid Islam and Sujan. Later, the Chhatra League men got organised and locked in a clash with the Jamaat-Shibir men.
During the clash, Chhatra League men hacked Mehedi Hasan, a fourth year student of chemistry of Rajshahi University, on suspicion that he was a Shibir activist. Mehedi was admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in critical condition.