More stray incidents of vandalism and arson targeting public transport were reported on the second day of the ongoing 48-hour blockade on Monday, enforced by the BNP and like-minded opposition parties, including Jamaat e Islami.
The ongoing blockade will end at 6am on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the BNP and like-minded parties will now enforce another round of 48-hour road-rail-waterway blockade across the country beginning from Wednesday to mount pressure on the government to step down and hold the next election under a non-partisan administration.
The opposition parties gave a break from its action programme on Tuesday as the BNP considers November 7 the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’, marking the civil-military uprising of November 7, 1975.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the fresh programme at a virtual press briefing on Monday evening.
He said the fresh blockade programme will be observed from 6am Wednesday to 6am Friday across the country.
According to the reports reaching the UNB news desk, a bus of ‘Bikalpa Auto Service’ was set on fire by miscreants in Dhaka’s Gulistan area around 2pm Monday.
Besides, a Dhaka University BRTC double-decker bus was set on fire by miscreants in the capital’s Mirpur area around 5:30pm.
Police recovered two crude bombs from a toilet of Dhaka University's Arts Faculty building on Monday morning.
A bomb disposal unit of police recovered those from the toilet of classroom 1106 of Arts building around 10.40am.
Md Ali Hossen, gateman of the Arts Building, said he noticed two bomb-like objects around 10 am and immediately informed the proctor's office.
In Gazipur, two buses were set on fire on Sunday night and early Monday in Gazipur's Bilaspur and Safipur areas amid the 48-hour road, rail and waterway blockade.
A stationary bus of Nirapad Paribahan was set on fire by unidentified miscreants at Bottola of Bilaspur last night, said Rakibul Hasan, inspector of Gazipur Fire Service.
In another incident, miscreants torched a bus on the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Safipur area of Kaliakair upazila early Monday.
In Bogura, a water tanker was torched by some unidentified miscreants in Bogura’s Shajahanpur upazila on Monday.
The incident took place on the Bogura-Dhaka highway in Betgari area of the upazila at around 11 am.
In Rajshahi, miscreants set fire on a goods-laden truck at Mougachhi Nandanhat intersection in Mohanpur upazila of Rajshahi district on Monday.
In Chattogram, a bus of Esha Paribahan was set on fire by unidentified miscreants at Oxygen intersection on Sunday night, said Ferdous Jahan, officer-in-charge (OC) of Bayazid Bostami police station.
In Khulna, a bus of ‘Mayer Ancal Paribahan’ was set on fire by unidentified miscreants in Khulna’s Rupsha upazila on Sunday night.
The bus was set ablaze around 8:30pm, said Md Shahin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Rupsha police station.
According to the sources of Fire Service and Civil Defence, a total of 21 arson incidents were reported across Bangladesh from 4 am on Sunday to 6 pm on Monday.
Of these, 12 arson attacks were reported in Dhaka City Corporations, said Talha Bin Jasim, station officer of Fire Service and Civil Defense media cell on Monday.
The fire official said that a total of 16 incidents of arson were reported in Dhaka division, and 4 in Chattogram division.
A total of 16 buses, two trucks, one private car, one CNG auto-rickshaw, and one human hauler were torched during this period.
Besides, a total of 228 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed across the country to maintain law and order as the 48-hour countrywide blockade called by the BNP, Jamaat and likeminded opposition parties is underway.
Shariful Islam, public relations officer (PRO) at BGB headquarters, confirmed the development this morning.
Last week, the opposition’s three-day countrywide blockade passed off amid clashes and widespread incidents of torching and vandalising vehicles, leaving four people--three in Kishoreganj and one in Sylhet—killed and over three dozen of vehicles either torched or vandalised.
They also observed a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on Sunday in protest against the attacks on BNP’s grand rally at Naya Paltan that ended amid the incidents of torching vehicles and clashes, leaving three people dead.
Half an hour into the start of BNP's much-talked-about grand rally at Naya Paltan on October 28, BNP leaders and workers locked in a clash with the ruling party activists and police at Kakrail. Soon violent clashes spread around Naya Paltan, foiling the rally midway.
