12 vehicles torched on first day of BNP’s nationwide transport blockade
Most of the vehicles were set ablaze in Dhaka, the fire service says
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Arsonists set fire to as many as 12 vehicles across the country on the first day of BNP’s 48-hour nationwide transport blockade, the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence said.
Most of the vehicles were set ablaze in Dhaka in the 24 hours to 6 am on Thursday, the fire service said in a media briefing.
With the national elections set to take place on Jan 7, the BNP, the largest opposition group in the country, has maintained that it will not take part in the polls unless a neutral caretaker government is instituted.
The party has been enforcing a series of shutdowns and blockades since police cracked down on its rally in Dhaka on Oct 28, prompting deadly clashes.
The tenth round of the party’s blockade programme will end at 6 am Friday.
The fire service reported a total of 266 arson attacks across the country since the BNP’s Dhaka rally broke out in violence on Oct 28.
Among the 12 vehicles burnt on the first day of the ongoing blockade, six incidents occurred in Dhaka, two in Gazipur, three in Chattogram and one in Sirajganj. The vehicles include six buses, two covered vans, a truck and three pick-up vans.