UNB, Gazipur :
The dawn-to-dusk hartal, enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance protesting the imposition of section 144 by the local administration ahead of its scheduled rally, ended without any major incident of violence in the district on Saturday. Motorised vehicles stayed off the city roads while shops remained closed during the shutdown. Some vehicles were seen on the Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways.
Police took position on the Bhawal Badre Alam Government College compound.
BNP activists brought out processions from C&B area in Sreepur upazila and vandalised some vehicles on Dhaka-Mymensigh highway. Police arrested three people- Tula Miah, Joynal and Jewel- in this connection.
Gazipur Reporters’ Club general secretary M A Farid Ali filed a case against 30 people, including BNP Chairperson’s adviser and city mayor MA Mannan and district BNP president MA Mannan, with Joydevpur police station in connection with vandalising the vehicles. A large number of police personnel were deployed in the key points of the district to fend off any trouble.
Gazipur district BNP president Fazlul Haque Milon announced the shutdown programme from a press briefing around 9:00 pm on Friday, after a meeting of BNP senior leaders with party chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair at her Gulshan political office.
The BNP chairperson was scheduled to address the public rally on Bhawal Badre Alam Government College compound in Gazipur on Saturday.
The district unit of Chhatra League on December 20 warned that they will not allow BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to enter the district until Tarique Rahman apologises for calling Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a ‘Razakar’, prompting the local administration to impose section 144 at the venue. Tarique at a recent programme in London termed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a ‘Razakar’ for banning Awami League in 1975.
