The two-day nationwide hartal called by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ended early today amid stray clashes, vandalism, road blockades and crude bomb blasts, leaving at least two people dead and about 100 injured across the country.
Among the victims, Khalilur Rahman, 22, was reportedly shot dead in a clash with police in the capital’s Jatrabari area on the second day of the shutdown yesterday. He was a local leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat’s student wing. Jahirul Islam Joni, a cameraman of Bangla Vision, a private television channel, also sustained injuries during the incident.
Another person, identified as Hamidul Haq, 45, was killed Tuesday night when a jeep flipped over after being chased by Jamaat activists at Kharulia on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway. Ten other passen-gers, including a baby, were injured in the accident.
Meanwhile, the party’s acting secretary general, Rafiqul Islam Khan, in a statement yesterday said some media reports about curtailing the 48-hour hartal by 12 hours was incorrect.
According to reports available until 9pm last night, 12 vehicles were damaged and 38 crude bombs were exploded across the country. The law enforcers also arrested over 50 Jamaat-Shibir activists.
In the capital, hartal supporters locked ino clashes with police as the law enforcers foiled their at-tempts to bring out processions in the city’s different areas.
Witnesses said around 10 crude bombs were exploded in different parts of the capital, including Sayedabad Janapad, Jatrabari, Palatan, Bijoynagar and Adabor during the hartal hours since Wednes-day at 6 am.
Pickets tried to set a truck on fire near Adabor thana, but police dispersed them in a hot chase.
At Moghbazar level crossing, hartal supporters tried to torch the slippers of the rail track at 7:30am, but police dispersed them.
Elsewhere in the city, pro-hartal elements were hardly seen as additional security personnel, compris-ing police and Rab men, were deployed at all the key points and intersections to avert any untoward incident during the Islamist party’s shutdown.
Rickshaws and auto-rickshaws outnumbered the motirised vehicles on the city streets as always seen during hartal days. The movement of commuters was less as many people failed to return to their workplaces from their village homes due to the shutdown that followed the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
Hartal elsewhere in the country
Chandpur: At least 55 people were injured in a clash between police and Jamaat-Shibir men at Farid-ganj. Of them 10 sustained with bullet injuries.
Police fired at least 300 rounds of bullets during the clash that erupted at around 1:30pm ended at 5:00pm, turning the entire area into a battlefield. Among the injured, one Nasiruddin was hospitalized at a critical condition.
To avert further clash, additional forces have been deployed in the area.
Witnesses said when Laxmipur Chief Judicial magistrate was passing through Faridganj, he came under attack by the pickets.
On information, police rushed to the spot to rescue him. As the police also came under attack, they opened firing that led to the clash.
Nazmul Hiq, OC of Faridganj Police Station, said the Jamaat-Shibir men set at least 25 motorcycles and vandalized more 15 others.
Noakhali: At least 17 vehicles were damaged by the pickets while police arrested 5 of them.
