A countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal, enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Monday protesting the execution of death sentence of its leader and war crimes convict Mohammad Kamaruzzaman was underway with stray incidents of firebomb attacks and vandalism across the country.
In Gazipur miscreants torched a bus of ‘Polas Paribahan’ around 6:30am at the bus stand in the city.
In Comilla a truck driver was burnt as miscreants hurled petrol bomb at his vehicle in Gauripur area of Daudkandi on early hours, reports United News of Bangladesh.
The victim Riaz, 40, of Rangpur was sleeping in the truck while miscreants hurled the crude bomb around 3:05am, Abu Salam Miah, officer-in-charge of Daudkandi police station, said.
Riaz was taken to a local hospital and later shifted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
In Sylhet Shibir men vandalised five vehicles in the city this morning, reports our correspondent.
Witnesses said a group of Shibir activists brought out a procession from Ambarkhana area around 7:00am and vandalised a truck and four Compressed Natural Gas-run auto-rickshaws.
Airport police station officer-in-charge, Gausul Hossain, said the miscreants fled the scene within several minutes after the vandalism.
In Sirajganj a Shibir activist died in a local hospital with bullet wound around 5:45am after being shot in a ‘gunfight’ between police and Shibir men early morning at Akdala neighbourhood in the city.
The diseased was identified as Anisur Rahman Anis, 18, of Ullapara in Sirajganj and a student of Mawlana Bhashani Degree College.
Sirajganj police station officer-in-charge, Habibul Islam, said they arrested five activists of Shibir including Anis along with three crude bombs from a mess near Nabadeep Bridge in the city.
Anis earlier with his group hurled two crude bombs at the sadar police station, Habibul alleged.
Later, police went on a drive with Anis at Akdala near city protection embankment around 12:15am while Anis’s accomplices fired on them, police claimed.
Anis received gun shot in his right leg during the gunfight, he added.
Rajshahi police this morning recovered a bullet hit body of a Shibir activist from a location at bypass road in the city.
The diseased, Shahidul, was a guard of Islami Medical College and Hospital.
Police said the body was sent to Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.
Meanwhile, in the capital no procession or picket was seen in support of the hartal till filing of this report at 11:10am. The city traffic was nearly normal.
A large number of policemen and members of Rapid Action Battalion remained deployed at important city points to fend off any trouble, reports cable TV channels.
In a statement, Jamaat acting ameer, Moqbul Ahmed on Saturday called the hartal describing Kamaruzzaman’s execution as a ‘planned killing’.
Kamaruzzaman was hanged on Saturday night at Dhaka Central Jail for the war crimes he had committed against humanity in 1971.
Source: New Age
