Opposition’s 60-hr hartal ends leaving 12 dead

The 60-hour nationwide hartal, enforced by the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, ended at 6pm on Tuesday amid violent clashes, vandalism, arson and crude bomb blasts, leaving a total of 12 people dead across the country.

At least 200 vehicles were damaged, several hundred crude bombs blasted and over 1200 people injured across the country during the three-day shutdown. The law enforcers also arrested over 250 opposition activists during the hartal hours.

Among the victims, BNP activist Maruf, 20, was shot dead and 25 people were injured in a clash with police and Awami League workers in Mohammadpur upazila of Magura district on Tuesday morning.

On the first day of the hartal on Sunday, five people -- one BNP leader, a Swechchhasebak Dal leader, one Jubo League man, one Awami League activist and a Jamaat activist -- were killed in violence in Faridpur, Jessore, Pirojpur, Bogra and Pabna districts.

Swechchhasebak Dal leader Maruf Sheikh, 20, was killed in police firing at Nagarkanda upazila in Faridpur while Jubo League leader Alamgir Hossain Shimul, 35, was beaten to death by hartal supporters at Noapra in Abhaynagar upazila in Jessore, Jamaat activist Julhasuddin Munnaf, 35, was killed in an attack by ruling party men at Iswardi upazila in Pabna, Awami League activist Swapan Shil, 38, was beaten to death by hartal pickets at Zianagar upazila in Pirojpur and BNP activist Shajahan Ali, 38, was killed in factional clash in Bogra over hartal picketing.

The six people killed in Monday’s hartal violence include a teenage boy, a truck driver, an Awami League supporter, a BNP leader, one Jubo Dal leader and a BNP activist.

Teenage boy Arju, 15, was shot dead at Puran Bazar in Chandpur town while AL supporter Shahjada, 40, was killed in a clash with pickets at Rambhadra Bazar under Islampur upazila in Jamalpur, truck diver Mohammad Wasim, 30, 

was killed as his vehicle plunged into a roadside ditch after being chased by a group of pickets at Satkania upazila in Chittagong.
Besides, Harinakunda upazila unit BNP president was chopped to death allegedly by some unidentified miscreants at 

Dakhalpur Bazar in Jhenidah, Jubo Dal leader Abdul Alim, 30, was killed in a clash between two factions of BNP at Hatubhanga under Mirzapur upazila in Tangail and BNP activist Hossain Arif,35, was shot dead in police firing at Kuliarchar in Kishoreganj district.

The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance enforced the nonstop 60-hour countrywide hartal at 6:00am on Sunday demanding formation of a non-party polls-time cabinet.

 In the capital on Tuesday, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Hazaribagh thana was injured in a bomb attack allegedly by activists of Shibir in Dhanmondi area in the morning. The OC was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The incidents of crude bomb blasts, chases and counter-chases between police and hartal supporters and clashes were also reported from other parts of the city, including Goran, Rampura, Jatrabari, Moghbazar Rail Gate and Nayapaltan, in the early hours today.

Incidents like vandalising and torching of vehicles, clashes between hartal pickets and police and ruling party activists, arrest of opposition leaders and activists and crude bomb blasts were also reported from different parts of the capital and a number of districts during the three-day hartal.

Several crude bombs were hurled at the residences of Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain, Labour, Employment Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas Dhaka city unit member secretary Abdus Salam during the three-day hartal.

Educational institutions and most shopping malls remained closed, but government and non-government offices in the capital were open with thin attendance.
Rickshaws and auto-rickshaws dominated the city streets during the hartal hours as the presence of motorised vehicles was remarkably low. No long-route bus left Mohakhali, Saydabad and Gabtoli terminals since the morning fearing vandalism.

Huge law enforcers guarded the city streets to avoid any untoward incident. A large number of law enforcers were deployed in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.