The daylong general strike called by the BNP-led opposition alliance got off to a casual start on Thursday amid tight security in the capital Dhaka.
Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from Thursday dawn keeping the opposition supporters away. However, explosion of five crude bombs were reported in Mirpur during the beginning hours of the shutdown.
Traffic was thin but all sorts of vehicles were seen plying the streets of Dhaka. Long-route buses remained off the streets but trains were running on schedule.
Meanwhile, security officials cordoned off the BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area.
A number of BNP leaders, including standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan spent the night at the office. Police have not allowed anyone to enter the office since morning.
On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.
The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.
Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from Thursday dawn keeping the opposition supporters away. However, explosion of five crude bombs were reported in Mirpur during the beginning hours of the shutdown.
Traffic was thin but all sorts of vehicles were seen plying the streets of Dhaka. Long-route buses remained off the streets but trains were running on schedule.
Meanwhile, security officials cordoned off the BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area.
A number of BNP leaders, including standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan spent the night at the office. Police have not allowed anyone to enter the office since morning.
On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.
The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.
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