2 hurt in Mirpur arson; JnU BCL men clash with pro-BNP lawyers near CMM court area
A nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal to protest the latest fuel price hike was marked by incidents of arson, vandalism and blasts in the capital on Sunday.
Several vehicles were set on fire and vandalised in Mirpur, Gulshan Link Road, Shankhari Bazar and Jatrabari areas of the capital.
Sources at the police headquarters said the law enforces picked up 70 people across the country including 17 in the capital during the hartal hours.
Moreover, a number of cocktails went off at different points of the capital including Dhaka University campus, Mirpur, Panthapath and Jatrabari.
No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts across the country.
Torching vehicles and blasting cocktails began on the eve of the hartal, with the opposition activists setting fire to at least seven vehicles, mostly buses, and exploding 10 cocktails at different points of the capital on Saturday.
The BNP-led 18-party alliance announced the shutdown on Friday protesting the latest fuel price hike.
DU CAMPUS
Three cocktails were exploded near Madhur Canteen on Dhaka University campus around 8:15am, witnesses said.
Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station, said they heard that one cocktail went off in the area.
MIRPUR
The pro-hartal activists torched a bus of United Paribahan at Section No. 6 of Mirpur around 6:15am.
Zaved, 35, the driver of the bus, and one of his friend sustained burn injuries in the fire, said owner of the bus.
Moreover, a number of cocktails exploded in the capital’s Mirpur area around 6:20am.
Pro-hartal activists also vandalised a BRTC bus in front of Mirpur Bangla College around 7:00am and fled the scene before police reached the spot.
PANTHAPATH
The incident of chase and counter-chase between the pro-hartal activists and law enforcers was also reported from the capital’s Panthapath area around 6:30am.
The incident occurred when the pickets were hurling brick chips at several vehicles.
Several cocktails also went off in the area during the incident.
SHANKHARI BAZAR
Hartal supporters also set fire to a private car around 9:30am at Shankhari Bazar area in the old part of the capital.
Witnesses say the car burnt to ashes before the fire fighters reached the spot.
NEAR CMM COURT
The activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) unit of Jagannath University clashed with pro-BNP lawyers at Johnson Road near Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court in the Old Dhaka.
Police had to fire at least 15 rubber bullets and around 20 teargas shells to disperse the clashing groups.
Our court correspondent says the clash started when around 50 lawyers brought out a procession from the court premises around 1:15pm in support of the hartal and confronted another procession of the BCL unit of Jagannath University near National Hospital.
Both the groups pelted brick chips to each other during their 15-minute clash.
A chase and counter-chase also took place between the two groups during the clash.
On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control after firing rubber bullets and teargas canisters.
Additional forces of police and Rapid Action Battalion were deployed in and around the court area to ward off further trouble.
BANANI
Police detained two Chhatra Dal activists when they tried to bring out a precession at Banani area in the capital around 9:00am.
Police had to lob several teargas shell to disperse the procession.
JATRABARI
A group of pro-hartal activists resorted to hit-and-run tactics and damaged four buses around 7:30am in Kutubkhali area of Jatrabari, reports our correspondent covering the event.
Another group also tried to block the Dhaka-Chittagong highway by setting fire to roadside throw away. They fled the scene when police chased them.
BNP’S CENTRAL OFFICE
Meanwhile, like other hartal days law enforcers virtually cordoned off the BNP’s head office at Nayapaltan in the capital since the morning.
TRAFFIC ON CITY ROAD
The vehicular movements are thin on the city streets.
Rickshaws are seen plying in numbers on the city thoroughfares.
The presence of private cars is remarkably thin.
DEPLOYMENT OF LAW ENFORCERS
A huge contingent of law enforcers were deployed at all the key points of the capital to maintain law and order during hartal hours. Some 10,000 additional forces would remain deployed in the Dhaka Metropolitan area during the hartal hours, Rab officials and police said earlier.
Moreover, 10 mobile courts would remain vigilant across the capital to take immediate legal actions against anybody violating the laws.
BACKGROUND
The opposition alliance announced the hartal on Friday, the day the latest fuel price hike took effect.
The hike has also triggered protests from left-leaning political parties and transport owners.
Bam Morcha, a combine of left parties, has threatened to call a hartal if the government does not withdraw the fuel price hike by January 8 and continues to increase power prices.
Source: The Daily Star
