The BNP-led 20-party alliance yesterday called a 36-hour hartal in Chittagong district beginning from 6am today.
A written statement issued by the BNP Chittagong city unit President Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said the shutdown was called protesting the “confinement” of the party chief Khaleda Zia and rampant arrest of the alliance men across the country.
The statement, released yesterday afternoon, further said the programme had been called as per the directive of the central committee.
The non-stop hartal would continue till 6pm tomorrow.
Meanwhile, law enforcers arrested 12 BNP-Jamaat activists from various parts of the district on allegation of subversive activities.
The BNP-led 20-party has been observing nationwide non-stop blockade, which has been marked by sporadic violence leaving a number of people killed and injured.
However, all the barricades from in front of Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office were removed early yesterday.
Additional police were also withdrawn from the office where the alliance chief was still staying till filing of this report.
In Rajshahi district, a 24-hour hartal was enforced by the BNP in protest of the arrest of Nadim Mostafa, president of Rajshahi district unit.
Vice-President of Rajshahi district unit Tofazzal Hossain Topu confirmed the shutdown, which started at 6pm yesterday and would end at 6pm today.
Nadim Mostafa, also a central leader of the party, was held by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) early yesterday from his Gulshan residence in the capital.
Metropolitan Magistrate Md Asaduzzaman Noor placed Nadim on a four-day remand in a bomb blast case filed with the Gulshan police station after he was produced before the court.
The case was filed following a crude bomb blast in front of a house in the capital’s Gulshan area on January 10.
Nadim was also accused of killing a police man by blasting a bomb near a patrolling truck on the eve of the January 5 election. However, he got out of jail after securing bail from the High Court.
Protesting the arrest of Nadim, Pro-BNP lawyers demonstrated at the Rajshahi court premises while the activists of district Mahila Dal demonstrated at the fire service intersection of the town.
Earlier, the BNP observed a 36-hour hartal in eight districts of Rajshahi division protesting the reported killing of a Chhatra Dal leader in a “gunfight” in Chapainawabganj.
The shutdown began at 6am on Sunday and ended at 6pm yesterday with no major incident, confirmed Manjur Rahman Pitar, general secretary of Rajshahi Highway Transport Association.
Assistant Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) Ifte Khayer Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the security measures were beefed up and additional policemen were deployed at major points in the city to avert any untoward situation during the hartal and the blockade.
9 BNP and Jamaat activists were detained yesterday from various areas of the city. The detainees were put under primary interrogation, he added.
