Blockade extended by 59 hours till 5 pm Thursday
The 3rd day of the 72-hour opposition’s road-rail-waterway blockade passed off amid bomb blasts, vandalism, clashes, arson attacks on buses and railways across the country on Monday, leaving two people dead.
The 18-party, meanwhile, extended its blockade programme by further three days till 5 pm on Thursday.
According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, Rubel Hossain, 20, a human-hauler driver was shot dead and 20 people were injured in a clash between the activists of Awami League and the BNP-led 18-party alliance during the blockade at Pukuria village in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj in the afternoon.
Besides, Saifuzzaman Sujon, 24, joint secretary of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal Poura unit was shot dead and 15 others were injured in a clash with Awami League activists at Kanaikhali in Natore district town during a daylong hartal enforced by local BNP in the district protesting the arrest of Ruhul Kuddus Talukdar Dulu.
In the capital, the blockade was marked by clashes between police and the blockaders and explosions of crude bombs at different parts of the city.
There were 19 bomb explosions in five areas, including North Badda, Madhya Badda, Bhatara (Coca Cola), Khilgaon and Karwan Bazar in the morning.
Picketers set fire to a Leguna (human hauler) and a CNG-auto-rickshaw at Armanitola at about 10am.
Rickshaws and auto-rickshaws dominated the city streets in the morning.
However, no long-route buses left Mohakhali, Saydabad and Gabtoli terminals since morning fearing vandalism. But local busses were seen plying, though with few passengers, the city roads.
The train communications on Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Sylhet, Tangail-Jamalpur, Dhaka-Parbatipur, Khulna-Parbatipur and Dhaka-Ishwardi routes remained suspended for several hours following the removal of fishplates and uprooting of rail tracks allegedly by blockaders.
The train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Sylhet routes resumed in the afternoon after 20 hours of suspension following the derailment of an intercity train in Burichang upazila due to the removal of fishplates on Sunday night.
At least 40 people were injured as the locomotive and four bogies of the Dhaka-bound ‘Mahanagar Godhuli Express’ train from Chittagong veered off the tracks in between Rajapur and Shasidal railway stations around 7:45pm after the miscreants uprooted the fishplates. The rail links on the Tangail-Jamalpur route were restored in the afternoon after 15 hours of suspension.
The train services on the Dhaka-Parbatipur and Khulna-Parbatipur routes resumed in the morning after five hours of suspension.
Shariful Islam, officer-in-charge of Shantahar Government Railway Police (GRP) Station, said the train services on the two routes were suspended around 4:45am after the blockaders removed fishplates from rail tracks at Darbhanga in Adamdighi upazila of Bogra.
Meanwhile, the rail links on the Dhaka-Ishwardi route were restored after five hours of suspension, also due to the removal of fishplates near Kuitanga Bridge in Ullapara of Sirajganj district during the ongoing blockade on Monday.
Incidents of violence are also being reported from different parts of the country, including Chittagong, Gazipur, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Laxmipur and Barisal districts.
In Chittagong, blockade supporters clashed with cops and set fire to a number of vehicles on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda upazila from Sunday night until Monday morning, leaving seven people injured. Truck driver Yasin Ali, 31, sustained burn injuries during an arson attack on his truck during the overnight violence.
Besides, several crude bombs were exploded in front of offices of divisional commissioner and deputy commissioner at old court building in the port city during submission of nomination papers on Monday afternoon.
In Gazipur, blockaders in a sudden attack hurled bombs targeting the motorcade of Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam in Tongi upazila on Monday morning.
Later, the attackers vandalised several vehicles on the road, but the minister’s motorcade managed to cross the area safely.
The opposition combine enforced the second spell of blockade from 6:00am on Saturday, demanding cancellation of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary elections billed for January 5 and protesting the filing of ‘false cases’ against its leaders and activists.
The blockade is also meant for protesting the denial of permission to BNP to hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday afternoon and the continued repression and oppression on opposition leaders and activists.
On November 25, the Election Commission declared the schedule for the country’s 10th parliamentary elections.
The deadline for submission of nominations is today (Dec 2), while the dates for the scrutiny of nomination papers are December 5 and 6, and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is December 13.
The second day of the blockade passed off on Sunday amid violence, disrupting the normal life and wreaking havoc on the economy and education across the country.
Source: UNB Connect