A woman and her two children received burn injuries in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday as alleged supporters of today’s hartal set fire to the CNG-run auto-rickshaw they were riding.
Shamun Nahar, 55, was going to Mirpur with her son Tazibul Haque, 23, a student of Jahangirnagar University, and daughter Anika. The family were on the way to a relative’s place after their appointments at a Shantinagar pathology centre.
Miscreants on two rickshaws hurled a petrol bomb at the CNG around 8pm, said witnesses. They had also exploded a few crude bombs to create panic and impede their path.
The BNP-led 20-party alliance called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk strike for today, protesting the bar against their rally in Gazipur and demanding that all detained BNP leaders and activists be released. The strike, starts at 6am and ends at 6pm.
In a separate incident, a bus was set ablaze at Purana Paltan in the capital yesterday evening around 6:30pm. Two firefighting units doused the blaze.
Morshed Alam, officer-in-charge of Paltan police station, said there was no reported injury in the incident.
The bus was set on fire at the Purana Paltan intersection while it was carrying secretariat staff.
Some youths set the fire to the bus.
Morshed Alam further said some miscreants had blasted a number of crude bombs on the road in front of Gazi Bhaban – near the BNP Headquarters – at Nayapaltan around 5pm.
No one was injured and the miscreants had fled before police arrived.
In two other incidents, crude bombs were set off on Dhaka University campus after dusk.
At Shibbari, pickets injured Reena Chowdhury, 28, and Sathi Akhter, 20, by throwing crude bombs. A rickshaw-puller named Harunur Rashid was injured near the TSC in another incident.
Today’s hartal
This is the second hartal enforced by the alliance since the January 5 elections boycotted by the BNP and affiliate political parties.
The alliance was scheduled to hold a public rally on December 27 demanding fresh elections under a non-partisan government. The rally was barred as section 144 was imposed in Gazipur to avoid possible unrest as the Chhatra League also announced a rally at the same venue on the same day, protesting BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman’s indecent remarks on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In protest, the alliance called a hartal in Gazipur for Saturday and demonstrations across the country.
On Saturday, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced a fresh hartal across the country.
Border Guard Bangladesh officials said BGB men had been deployed in major cities, including the capital, to maintain law and order, and they would remain posted until the further notice.
Meanwhile, Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity announced that it would continue regular service ignoring the strike.
