The BNP yesterday called for a fresh 48-hour nationwide blockade starting 6:00am Wednesday in protest of the Election Commission's announcement of the polls scheduled.

The party will also organise human chain demonstrations in cities and district towns across the country on December 10 -- the International Human Rights Day, said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Families of BNP leaders and activists, who have been victims of enforced disappearances, killings, arrests in fictitious cases, and human rights violations, will attend the programme, said the BNP leader while announcing the programme at a virtual press briefing after the party's ninth round of 48-hour blockade ended amid arson attacks on public transport.

Rizvi said, "The Awami League government tried to purchase leaders of small parties, but failed."

"The parties nominated their leaders to participate in the election, but they didn't submit forms to the election commission," he said, adding, "Now, the Awami League's hope has turned into despair."

Rizvi said the government has formed the "King's Party" to keep all the popular parties away from the one-sided election.

Terming the election commissioners "half-robots", the BNP leader said, "Sheikh Hasina has the remote control in her hand…".

At a press briefing, Rizvi claimed that law enforcers arrested over 19,215 leaders and activists in 519 cases across the country from October 28 until yesterday afternoon.

He also claimed that 355 party leaders and activists were detained and 14 cases were filed against 1,265 named and many unnamed party activists in the last 24 hours till yesterday afternoon.

In Dhaka, three crude bombs went off in the Paltan area of Dhaka yesterday between 5:30pm and 6:00pm, said Salahuddin Mia, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station.

There were no reports of injuries, the police officer added.

Meanwhile, at Nayapaltan, law enforcers were seen guarding the BNP party office, which has been padlocked since October 28.

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, five vehicles -- two trucks, two autorickshaws, and a bus -- were torched on the second day of the two-day blockade in Feni, Gazipur, and Dhaka till 6:00pm yesterday.

In Dhaka, arsonists set a bus of Tanjil Paribahan on fire at Zero Point in the capital's Gulistan at 2:23pm. Two firefighting units extinguished the fire around 2:40pm. There weren't any casualties, said fire officials.

In Gazipur, arsonists set fire to a hay-laden truck in Chandra on the Dhaka-Tangail highway. Two fire engines doused the fire. The straw was burned, but the truck itself remained unharmed, said fire officials.

In Feni, unidentified criminals set fire to two CNG-run autorickshaws on Shaheed Shahidullah Kaisar Sarak.

Police said some people exploded crude bombs to create panic among people and then set fire to the vehicles.