Four people were killed and at least 100, including policemen, were injured across the country in stray incidents of violence on Tuesday, during the ongoing 6-day blockade programme called by the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami complemented the blockade programme by enforcing a daylong hartal on the day, in protest of “the violation of the Constitution, Supreme Court rules and the Jail Code” in connection with the issue of the death warrant against its Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah.
A Jamaat activist named Sukbar Ali, 65, was seriously injured and later died as Jamaat supporters clashed with businessmen and Awami League supporters at Raninagar in Noagaon district at around 9:30am. Sukbar was the son of late Hatem Ali of Bhander village in Raninagar upazila.
A minor boy named Salman (16) was killed in Feni as Shibir activists clashed with police. According to police, Salman was a Shibir activist and that he may have died when a bomb he was carrying exploded. Witnesses and Shibir leaders, however, said the boy was injured in police firing and later succumbed to injuries. Salman was a student of class ten of Al-Jamiatul Falahiya Kamil Madrasah.
In Gazipur, a woman and daughter were burnt to death when a covered van was set on fire near Bhogra bypass at around 10:00pm.
In the capital, stray incidents of violence marked the fourth day of the blockade programme.
Activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), an associate student body of the BNP, brought out a procession in support of the blockade at Laxmibazar of Old Dhaka around 7am. They were later dispersed by the police.
The police recovered a crude bomb from a road at Azimpur area around 7:30am.
Law enforcers dispersed a JCD procession in support of the blockade at Independent Television Gali in Tejgaon industrial area around 7 am and detained three opposition activists from the spot.
Some Jamaat-Shibir activists brought out a procession to parade through different places, including Khilgaon and Azimpur, and exploded crude bombs in the morning. The police detained one of the activists from Shipahibagh in Khilgaon area.
No long-route bus left Mohakhali, Sayedabad and Gabtoli terminals since morning.
In Rajshahi, at least 40 activists of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, a student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and four policemen, including the officer-in-charge of Motihar Police Station, were injured in a fierce clash at Binodpur Bazar area of the city during the blockade programme.
Witnesses said the clash erupted when the police obstructed a Chhatra Shibir procession at Binodpur around 7:30am. At one stage, the Shibir activists attacked a police van, and hurled brickbats and crude bombs at the police. They also snatched the gun from a police constable and broke his leg by beating him with it.
On receiving information, additional policemen rushed to the spot and fired several rounds of bullets and teargas shells to disperse the activists.
In Naogaon, at least 20 people were injured in a clash between Jamaat-Shibir activists and local businessmen when the blockaders vandalised the truck of an AL-supporter at Abad Pukur Bazar under Raninagar upazila at 9am. Seven shops were ransacked and five vehicles vandalised during the clash.
Earlier, Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal activists had blocked the Dhaka-Natore highway at Sujan Chattar of the town. They were later dispersed by the police.
Our Dinajpur correspondent reports that at least 20 people were injured as a group of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir supporters clashed with the police here during the hartal hours.
The injured were admitted to the Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, said Mukur Chowdhury, general secretary of the Dinajpur unit of BNP. Four persons were arrested from the spot.
Witnesses said BNP and Jamaat-Shibir activists blocked railway tracks at Nimnagar Balubari while Kanchan Express, a Thakurgaon-bound commuter train, was coming to Dinajpur Station from Parbatipur upazila around 12.30pm. But the police dispersed the activists and cleared the railway track.
When the train was crossing the area, the picketers hurled brickbats at the train and damaged the windowpanes of several compartments. When the police tried to resist them, the activists threw brickbats at the law enforcers. The police fired several rounds of rubber bullets and teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
Later, BGB troopers were deployed at the area to prevent the situation from getting out of hands.
The district unit of BNP called a dawn-to-dusk hartal on Wednesday, in protest of the police attack on its leaders and workers.
In Rangpur, a clash erupted between Jubo League and Jamaat activists at Mithapukur area, leaving 20 people injured. Witnesses said the Jubo League activists brought out a procession to protest against the blockade and hartal, and reached in front of Setu Hotel. The Jamaat activists also brought out a pro-blockade procession there at the same time. A fierce clash ensued and the police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
In Gazipur, Jamaat-Shibir activists blocked the Dhaka-Shimultoli Road at Bilaspur area. They also vandalised several vehicles there.
In Laxmipur, at least 10 people were injured in a clash between Jubo League and Jubo Dal activists at Meghna Bazar in sadar upazila of the district.
In Sylhet, Shibir supporters set fire to a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Shah-e-Eidgah area. They also vandalised a truck and four CNG-run auto-rickshaws at Majumdari and Kajolshah areas of the city.
Shibir supporters hurled a petrol bomb at a human-hauler requisitioned by the police at the Shibganj intersection of the city around 1pm. The police detained 13 Shibir supporters and two BNP activists from the city on charges of picketing.
In Satkhira, the local unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) called a daylong hartal on Wednesday, in protest of the death of its Jessore unit vice-president Kabir Hossain Palash and in demand of withdrawal of all cases against its central leaders.
JCD leader Kabir Hosain Palash was shot to death and another man was injured in an attack carried out by unidentified miscreants at the civil court intersection of Jessore district town around 7pm on Monday.
In Narayanganj, Shibir activists brought out a stick-wielding procession in the city around 8am. They torched a truck and vandalised several other vehicles. The police picked up two Shibir activists from the spot and two crude bombs were found in their possession, said Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Special Branch of Police in Narayanganj.
BNP activists exploded four crude bombs at Rupganj and Araihazar areas, while Jubo Dal activists exploded five crude bombs at Kashipur area of the city and vandalised several vehicles. The police fired several rounds of blank shots during a chase and counter-chase with the activists, said Aktar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Narayanganj Model Police Station.
Our Chapainawabganj correspondent reports that stray incidents of violence marked the blockade programme and the dawn-to-dusk hartal in the district on Tuesday. Jamaat-Shibir activists tried to put up barricades on the Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid highway at Shibtala Square around 11am.
They exploded crude bombs when members of police, BGB and RAB reached the spot. The law enforcers fired 50 rounds of rubber bullets and a number of teargas shells to disperse the activists.
The pro-hartal activists beat up two persons—Abdur Rahim and Ainal Hoque—at Muslimpur under Shibganj upazila by obstructing an ambulance that was carrying patients.
-With The Independent input
