The countrywide daylong hartal, enforced by Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student affiliate of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for students, is underway amid sporadic incidents across the country on Wednesday.
There have been no reports of any major violent incidents in Dhaka.
Sources said some crude bombs were exploded in Motijheel and Shahbagh areas during the hartal hours.
Meanwhile, police nabbed a hartal supporter from the capital.
In the morning, two picketers were held after a clash between Jamaat-Shibir activists and law enforcers at the capital’s Banasree, reports Banglanews24.com.
Five to six crude bombs were exploded by unidentified pickets at Shahjadpur of North Badda at 6:15am. On duty police dispersed them by firing blank shots.
Hartal supporters tried to set a human hauler (leguna) on fire in Demra on the city’s outskirts at 6:30am. Pickets blasted 4-5 crude bombs at 6am in Rayerbagh of Jatrabari.
At 6:05am, Jamaat activists brought out a sudden procession in support of the hartal at Mirpur 1. At 4:30am, prior to the start of the hartal, pickets set fire to a covered van in front of Eden College in Azimpur.
Vehicular movement on the city streets was normal. Members of the law enforcement agency took position at important points of the city to fend off any untoward incidents during the hartal hours.
No major violent incident was reported from elsewhere across the country.
Shibir activists unleashed violence in some districts, including the capital, on Tuesday. They vandalised vehicles, exploded cocktails and clashed with police to create panic ahead of the hartal.
On Friday, the student front threatened to enforce a countrywide hartal on Sunday if its demands, which include the release of its central president, were not met.
Later on Saturday, they called the strike off due to inclement weather and some scheduled examinations.
Police arrested Shibir President Delwar from his sister’s house in the city’s Shyamoli on March 31. He was placed on a 14-day remand on April 1 for his alleged involvement in an explosion of crude hand-bombs on Mirpur Road on February 28.
