At least two people were killed and around 200 others were injured on the first day of the BNP-led 18-party alliance’s 84-hour hartal, as pickets clashed with police and exploded several hundred crude bombs in the capital and different districts.
The pickets torched vehicles and several offices of the ruling party, vandalised 100 more vehicles, and uprooted railway tracks in different districts, while law enforcers managed to arrest around 150 pickets.
An employee of University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) was killed in Chittagong in the morning and an expatriate was killed in Feni in the evening.
Several people sustained severe burn injuries in separate arson attacks in Dhaka and elsewhere while many others were injured by bomb attacks and police firing.
In Chittagong, USTC employee Nirmal Sen, 30, was killed when the auto-rickshaw he was on was forced to overturn by chasing pickets at Katakhali in Hathazari upazila.
Jahirul Islam, in-charge of Chittagong Medical College Hospital police outpost, said Nirmal was killed as the driver lost control of the vehicle after it was chased by the pickets.
Meanwhile, around 50 people, including law enforcers and women, were injured in clashes between police and pickets, who exploded around 50 crude bombs, torched two vehicles and vandalized 15 others.
Police fired several hundred rounds of rubber bullets, tear shells and sound grenades to disperse the clashing pickets and made 21 arrests.
Arefin Jewel, additional deputy commissioner (west) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said at least 13 policemen, including Abdul Majid, officer-in-charge of Akbar Shah police station, were among the injured.
Amir Khasru Mahamud Chowdhury, president of the city unit of BNP, claimed 36 of their leaders and activists were injured in police action.
In Feni, an expatriate was killed and three others were injured, after pickets chased the ambulance they were on into a roadside tree in Daganbhuiyan in the evening.
Ilias Hossain, 35, died on the spot at Mukterbari on the Feni-Maizdee road. The injured, including the ambulance driver, have been admitted to Feni Hospital.
Nizam Uddin, OC of Daganbhuiya police station, confirmed the death and the injuries, but said he was not sure whether the vehicle was chased.
In the capital, at least 30 people were injured, including 10 with burn injuries, as several buses were set on fire and around 100 crude bombs were exploded at different places including Mohakhali, Wireless Gate, Modhubagh, Demra, Malibagh Crossing, Mouchak, Lalbagh, Mirpur, and Tejkunipara.
At least 10 people received burn injuries when a human hauler was torched in front of Jagannath University last night. Anisur Rahman Babu, a cameraman of private satellite TV Channel 24, was injured when pickets hurled crude bombs near Bangla College at Mirpur-1 around 8 am.
In Jamalpur, clashes left more than 20 people injured, including 12 with bullet wounds, in Sharishabari. The clash erupted when local Awami League men brought out an anti-hartal procession and resisted pro-hartal activists from picketing at Shishua Baghmara.
In Meherpur, pickets exploded crude bombs, vandalized trucks and obstructed transport movement by putting wood logs on different roads in the area.
In Barisal, hartal activists set fire to an office of the city unit Chhatra League president Jasimuddin at Sagardi. Three vehicles were also torched, while police arrested 26 opposition men.
In Laxmipur, clashes between pickets and police left around 12 people injured at Chandraganj.
In Comillla, at least 10 people were injured when Jamaat-Shibir activists and police locked into a clash in Chauddagram.
In Natore, pickets uprooted rail tracks at Sreerampur in Lalpur upazila, causing rail communications between Dhaka and the northern districts to remain suspended for over four hours.
At least seen vehicles were damaged in Khulna, seven more in Satkhira, while several other vehicles were vandalised in Gazipur, Rajshahi, Manikganj, Joypurhat, and Chandpur.
