The death of Nur-e-Alam, 60, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday took the blockade violence death toll past 40. The sexagenarian suffered burn injuries in a petrol bomb attack in Jatrabari in the capital on January 23.
Stray arson and vandalism marked the first day of a 72-hour nationwide hartal called in a press statement by BNP Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed, who was arrested soon after making the call. The hartal began on day 26 of the BNP alliance’s transport blockade.
Alam, who suffered 48% burns, succumbed to his injuries at the intensive care unit of the burn unit around 1pm. He was among 28 victims injured in a single petrol bomb attack on a bus just over a week ago.
In the capital on hartal day one, two crude bombs were exploded near the secretariat building but nobody was reported injured.
In Feni’s Zero Point area, hartal activists burnt down six CNG-run auto rickshaws around 8am. A police patrol yards away from the spot failed to arrest anyone.
In Habiganj, vandals broke away from a BNP rally and attacked at least 10 vehicles and torched a truck in the afternoon. The BNP men fled the spot before police and fire fighters arrived on the scene.
At Burirchang upazila of Comilla, BNP-alliance activists torched an SM Alam Paribahan bus which was headed for Dhaka from Chittagong early yesterday after forcing the passengers off the bus.
Soon after that, activists torched another bus at the same spot in the same manner.
At Sirajganj sadar, pickets hurled crude bombs at a police patrol in the morning. No one was injured in the incident. Police picked up three BNP-Jamaat men from the spot.
At Brahmanbaria, pickets hurled a crude bomb at a carriage of the Suborno Express in the morning in the rail gate area. As the doors and windows of the train were shut, the train was not damaged.
Afterwards, police and pickets clashed with each other leaving at least five pickets and a policeman injured, our correspondent reports. Additional policemen were deployed to the spot to bring the situation under control.
In Chandpur, Shibir men hurled a crude bomb at a power station in the town. No one was hurt. The power station was not damaged in the incident.
In an over-night drive in the capital yesterday, police arrested at least 32 BNP-Jamaat activists. At Badda pickets hurled a petrol bomb at a bus in the capital. Nobody was hurt but a bus caught fire in the incident.
In Gazipur, Shibir activists torched a bus in the Chandana area in the city around 7am.
The activists took out a procession in support of the alliance’s hartal in the area and vandalised three vehicles at Teknagarpara on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway around 7:30am, Joydebpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Rezaul Hasan said.
