Another bout of 48-hr blockade from tomorrow

The BNP yesterday called a fresh 48-hour nationwide blockade from 6:00am tomorrow.

Party Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programme at a virtual press conference yesterday afternoon.

The BNP's two-day blockade, which ended at 6:00am today, was marked by torching of vehicles and arrests of its leaders and activists across the country.

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence, a total of 14 vehicles, including 11 buses, were set on fire in several districts over the last two days. Of the 11 buses, eight were set ablaze in Dhaka.

The BNP and like-minded opposition parties are enforcing blockades demanding the resignation of the government, general election under a non-party interim administration, and release of their arrested leaders and activists.

Rizvi said law enforcers arrested 11,250 BNP leaders and activists across the country from October 28 till yesterday afternoon. Of them, 480 were held yesterday.

At least 16 new cases were filed yesterday, taking the total number of cases lodged against BNP men to 249 since October 28, he added.

Meanwhile, the Rapid Action Battalion, in a statement, said they picked up 393 people from across the country from October 28 till yesterday over violence and sabotage.

The Rab also claimed to have detained Mamun Majumder, 35, an assistant organising secretary of Chhatra Dal, the BNP's student front, in the capital's Abdullahpur.

Jahidur Rahman, company commander of Rab-1, said they detained Mamun around 9:00am yesterday when he was fleeing after setting a bus of Projapoti Paribahan on fire.

SITUATION IN CITY

The number of public transport vehicles, cars, auto-rickshaws, and motorcycles plying the streets in the capital increased significantly yesterday compared to the previous day.

Traffic jams were seen in Moghbazar, Kakrail, Motijheel, Jatrabari, and some other areas. Many buses were packed with passengers, especially during the morning and evening rush hours, The Daily Star found aftervisiting different areas of the capital.

However, no inter-district buses left Dhaka's Gabtoli, Sayedabad, and Mohakhali bus terminals till yesterday afternoon.

Some passengers willing to travel outside the capital were seen waiting at the terminals.

Liton Mia, a passenger, said he came to know that an Eagle Paribahan bus would leave Dhaka for Magura around 1:00pm if there were enough passengers. He told this newspaper around noon that he had been waiting at the Gabtoli terminal since morning.

Alamgir Hossain, a ticket seller for DD Paribahan at the bus terminal, said they had made all preparations to operate long-haul buses, but very few passengers turned up.

"If we have a minimum of 20 passengers, we will operate a bus on the Dhaka-Chuadanga-Darshana route at 10:15pm," he said.