At least 10 vehicles were torched and 20 vandalised when opposition supporters clashed with police on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda upazila on Sunday night.
The incident occurred after the detention of a BNP leader, the general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Habibur Rashid Habib.
Witnesses said supporters of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir put up blockades at several points on the highway in the evening.
Clashes began when the law enforcers tried to clear the important route, police said.
Hundreds of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men pounced with brickbats and handmade bombs in Barabkunda area around 8:30pm, Sitakunda police Officer-in-Charge SM Badiuzzaman said.
According to him, police were trying to bring situation under control until filling of this report at around 9:30pm.
It was not clear how the police were trying to bring the situation under control, or if anyone was injured.
The clashes caused a 20km-long tailback on the highway, causing sufferings to commuters, the OC added.
Sitakunda circle police Assistant Superintendent Syed Iqbal Ali added that the rampage was in protests to the arrest of a Jamaat leader Aminul Islam from Comilla.
