A three-day blockade of road, rail and waterways, enforced by BNP and like-minded opposition parties, across the country began Tuesday morning to mount pressure on the Awami League government to quit and hold the next election under a non-party, neutral administration.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also enforced the blockade simultaneously from this morning to Thursday evening with the same demands.
According to reports reaching Dhaka, a Juba Dal worker was killed and several others injured in a clash police and Awami League workers with BNP activists as the latter went out to enforce blockade.
In another clash under Narayanganj district on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway several BNP activists were arrested. Police said that the BNP activists had been obstructing the movement of vehicular traffic. They drove the stone pelting activists away and arrested several of them.
In Manikganj five BNP workers were arrested after a clash between Police and AL workers with BNP activists. bNP's allies - Ganatantra Manch, 12-party alliance, Gonoforum, Gono Adhikar Parishad brought out processions in central Dhaka in support of the blockade.
Apart from BNP and Jamaat, the 12-party alliance, Ganatantra Manch, Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote, LDP, Gonoforum and People’s Party, Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Labour Party and NDM are also observing the programme separately.
Meanwhile, AL has vowed to resist any violence during the blockade.
Police and other law enforcement agencies have already alerted their units to increase vigilance and beef up security across the country.
Police have also taken up positions and set up checkpoints at the entry points and all major points of Dhaka.
After observing a day-long hartal, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday evening announced the countrywide blockade for three consecutive days.
He, however, said vehicles of newspapers or media, ambulances and vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders and medicines will remain out of the purview of the three-day blockade, reports UNB.