Staff Reporter :
A countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in protest against the execution of death sentence of the party leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman passed amid arson attacks and vandalism in different parts of the country on Monday.
The activists of Jamaat-Shibir brought out flash processions on this occasion. The movement of buses, launches and trains however remained normal across the country. Additional police forces, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the city to meet any emergency.
In Comilla, a truck driver received burn injuries when a petrol bomb was hurled targetting the vehicle at Gouripur under Daudkandi upazila early in the morning. The victim identified as Riaz Uddin, 40, son of Multan Hossain, hailed from Rangpur district, said Abu Salam Miah, Officer in-Charge (OC) of Daudkandi Police Station. He said the occurrence took place at 3:00am when its driver was sleeping inside the truck. He was later admitted to the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). In Gazipur, the activists of Jamaat and Shibir torched a bus after pouring petrol in the truck at the bus stand area in the town around 6:00am.
Five passengers of the bus, who were injured, received treatment at local hospitals. The hartal supporters also vandalized at least four vehicles in the area.
In Chittagong, a group of 15 to 20 pro-hartal supporters torched at least three buses and vandalized more than five other vehicles near the Baby Super Market at Panchlaish in the port city, said Mohiuddin Mahmud, OC of Panchlaish Police Station. At least there persons received injuries in the accident, the OC said. A procession was brought out in the KB Aman Road area under Bakalia thana in the city around 8:30am.
In Joypurhat, a bus was set to fire in Khetlal upazila early in the morning. However, none was injured in the incident. In Narayanganj, a stick procession was brought out on the DIT Road in the district town in the morning.
In the capital, about 12 people brought out a flash procession in the city’s Madhya Badda area in the morning. Five cocktails were blasted from a procession in support of the hartal at Kuril Bishwa Road early area in the morning.
At Jatrabari, police detained two pro-hartal supporters with six petrol bombs at Shanirakhra. At Savar, at least 50 pro-hartal supporters brought out a procession on the Abdullapur-Baipal route near Khandakar Market at Gazir Char in Ashulia under Savar upazila. They vandalized at least 15 vehicles and hurled several crude bombs during the procession. Police also arrested five persons in this connection.
