Staff Reporter :The countrywide 48-hour hartal enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death sentence awarded to its two leaders for crimes against humanity was observed amid poor response from people on Wednesday.The third phase of hartal began at 6am on Wednesday and will continue till 6am on Friday. In the capital, three people sustained injuries when several crude bombs were exploded during a procession brought out by the activists of Jamaat and its student body Islami Chhatra Shibir in the city’s Jurain area around 8:15am.The injured people were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Several crude bombs were also blasted at Bakshibazar in the city in the morning. No one was injured in the incident.Jamaat and Shibir men brought out separate processions in the city’s Madartek, Jurain and Bakshibazar areas in the morning in support of the hartal.Transport movement in the city was almost normal. Policemen remained deployed in the city to meet the emergencies. The long-route buses, however, did not fly. In Chittgong, the transport movement in the city was normal. The city residents did not respond to hartal. Huge law enforcing agencies were deployed to avert any untoward incident in and outside the city. About 220 BGB members are patrolling the Chittagong city roads. In Jhenaidah, police arrested six Jamaat-Shibir men when they were preparing to start picketing. In Bogra, a group of Shibir activists brought out a procession in support of the hartal and blocked road at Khandar in the district town around 7am.Earlier, two crude bombs were exploded at Akubia High School intersection during a procession on Tuesday evening.Police said that they arrested 11 leaders and activists of Jamaat and Shibir from different upazilas of the district on Tuesday night.The members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) remained alert in the capital and in other parts of the country from Tuesday evening, ahead of the shutdown.On Sunday, the Islamic party announced a 24-hour strike for Thursday protesting the capital punishment given to one of its policymakers Mir Quasem Ali for war crimes.Earlier, Jamaat enforced a 72-hour countrywide shutdown in two phases protesting the death sentence against its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami for his war crimes.Hours after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 condemned Jamaat ameer Nizami to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War on October 29, the Islamic party announced a 72-hour staggered nationwide shutdown programme.The 2nd-phase strike was originally called for 48 hours until Tuesday 6am, but the Islamist party on Monday reduced it by 12 hours due to the holy Ashura which was observed in the country on Tuesday.
