The second day of the countrywide hartal called by Jamaat-e-Islami was relatively calm except for a few stray incidents in the capital and other districts.
In Dhaka, activists brought out processions in Doyaganj, Shahjadpur, Chowkbazar, Paltan, Uttara, Mirpur and Shyamoli areas. Picketers burnt a passenger bus at the Mipur Technical Square around 1pm, confirmed Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Darussalam police station.
Around the same time, picketers set off crude bombs and burnt tyres in Doyaganj.
Asaduzzaman, sub-inspector of the Mirpur Model police station, said two Shibir activists named Polash, 24, and Sazzad, 28, were arrested at Shewrapara around 6am. Further, more than 30 activists were arrested by police for hartal-related violence in the capital.
Around 6:45pm, three crude bombs exploded in front of the BNP head office in Motijheel, according to witnesses.
In Mohammadpur, picketers hurled crude bombs in front of the Singer showroom around 7pm, one of which hit the store manager Benzir Ahmed Chanchal, 35, in the head.
His colleagues took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) around 8:30pm, said Mozammel Haque, in-charge of DMCH police outpost.
No deaths from the incidents were reported in the capital.
Chittagong: Life was as usual in the port city, with no reports of untoward incidents. The traffic on the roads and the railway communication was normal, but no inter-city bus left the city yesterday.
Pahartoli police nabbed two Shibir activists – Waliullah Ali and Abu Bakar alias Ibrahim – from the city’s Sagarika area early yesterday on charge of attempting to conduct subversive activities in the city.
Bakalia police arrested Shibir leader Irfan Mahmud from his residence at Syed Shah Ali Road area in the morning on charge of being involved in recent Jamaat-Shibir violence in the city.
Kustia: A slack second day of hartal was observed in the district. Police arrested three Jamaat activists in a drive on Saturday night, said Abu Bakar Siddique, additional police superintendent of the district, adding that the police was deployed at the important points of the district.
Barisal: The second day of the two-day hartal by Jamaat went without any incident in Barisal yesterday.
Pro-hartal activists brought out sudden processions at C and B Road, Kashipur, Nabagram, Kawnia, Hatkhola and College Avenue areas in the city early morning.
Jessore: Police arrested 17 activists of Jamaat-Shibir in several drives on Saturday night.
Reshma Sharmin, senior assistant superintendent of police of the Sadar Circle, said: “Of the detained, 13 are from Jamaat-Shibir and the rest are from the BNP.”
Rajshahi: The Shibir activists brought out a procession in the city’s Kedur Circle around 10am, Dashpukur area around 10:45am and Sonadighi area around 11am. Activists hurled brick chips and torched tyres on the road to create panic among people, but fled the scene when the law enforcers reached the spot.
Sylhet: Police arrested five Jamaat-Shibir activists in different drives in the district on Saturday night, confirmed Muhammad Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Brahmanbaria: Zahidul Islam, additional police superintendent of the district, said police arrested eight Jamaat-Shibir activists involved with hartal-related violence in the district.
