Three killed on first day of BNP blockade

At least three people were killed in clashes between BNP activists, police and ruling Awami League supporters on Tuesday, the first day of a three-day blockade called by the opposition BNP party.

Two of the victims were from Kuliarchar, Kishoreganj, and the other in Sylhet sadar upazila. Claiming that the deceased were BNP activists, the party blamed police for the deaths.

On Tuesday, the sporadic clashes across the country also left several hundreds of BNP activists, Awami League men and police injured.

The capital city witnessed a number of vehicles on fire, limited transportation, and processions brought out by both the ruling and opposition party activists on Tuesday.

Long-route buses from different spots were also limited, as bus operators were getting much fewer passengers than usual.

Law enforcers, including police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), were deployed at key spots across the city to check any untoward incidents.

BNP and its allies are observing the blockade to protest the alleged attack by police and the ruling party on their grand rally on October 28, as well as the detention of hundreds of their activists and leaders by law enforcers, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

During visits to different areas of Dhaka, it was found that there were limited numbers of cars, public buses and CNG-run autorickshaws, which mostly comprise the city's transport.

A private car was allegedly vandalised by picketers in the city's Bijoy Nagar area on Tuesday afternoon. When the FE correspondents visited the spot, they found shattered pieces of car glass.

A nearby hawker said a few people from a procession suddenly attacked the car. They gave the car owner space to flee and started vandalising the car at 2:00 pm, he said.

But no processions or rallies could take place in the Nayapaltan area, as police cordoned off the BNP central party office.

A bus was set on fire by miscreants in front of the National Press Club around 3:30 pm. On information, the fire service reached the spot and put out the fire.

Duty officer of the fire control room Ershad Hossain told FE that it was not yet confirmed who did it. The upper part of the bus was completely burnt before we could douse it, he said.

According to witnesses, some miscreants got on the bus in the disguise of passengers and set it on fire while getting down from it.

Similar to the limited city commute, inter-district bus services to and from Dhaka remained very limited.

Kamal Hossain, a staff of Ena Transport in Gulistan, told the FE that they couldn't operate at their usual scale because there had been a low passenger turnout.

"Some of the buses left Dhaka at half capacity despite the number of trips being lowered," he said.

A Khulna-bound passenger, Sagor Mia, said he was travelling on an emergency basis but had been waiting for more than an hour for his bus to depart. "Usually, the buses leave every 15 minutes, but now it's taking over an hour."

People were concerned about the possibility of vandalism amid political uncertainty, especially after several incidents of killings, including a policeman, and vehicles torched during Saturday's rally and Sunday's strike by the BNP.

On Tuesday morning, at least 20 people, including 10 policemen, were injured in a three-way clash between Awami League, BNP activists, and police at Chausuti bus stand area in Kuliarchar upazila, Kishoreganj, according to media reports.

The deceased were identified as Billal Mia, 30, son of Kajal Mia, and Refayet Ullah, 20, son of Kausar Mia, both residents of Chausuti Union.

Claiming that the two deceased were BNP activists, the party's national executive committee co-organising secretary and Kishoreganj district BNP president, Shariful Alam, said they were killed in "police firing."

In a statement, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi called for the immediate handover of the bodies of Refayet Ullah and Billal Mia to their families and strongly condemned their killing by "police firing."

Another media report said an activist of Jubodal, the youth wing of BNP, was killed in Sylhet while fleeing from the police.

On Tuesday night, at least four policemen were injured in a clash between police and picketers in Dhaka's Matuail.

Md Rafique, duty officer of Demra Police Station, told the media that picketers brought out a procession on Badsha Mia Road at 9:30 am in support of the blockade.

When police obstructed them, they attacked the law enforcers, triggering a clash that left four policemen injured, he said.

A chase and counter-chase took place and some crude bombs were exploded during the incident, the police officer added. Later, police arrested 30 people from Tamirul Millat and Mintu Chattar area, said Madhusudan Das, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Demra zone.

"Legal steps will be taken after interrogation," he said.

On Tuesday morning, miscreants set two pickup vans on fire on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at Madanpur Dewanbagh Gate in Narayanganj district.

Some 20 people, including three policemen, were injured in a clash involving BNP and Awami League activists and police at Pachrukhi in Araihazar upazila of the district.

They also vandalised two vehicles, including a BRTC bus, passing through the area.

In Chattogram, miscreants set fire to a bus in the Saltgola area in the port city around 6 am and two others at Dampara Bus counter and Oxygen-Hathazari road on Monday night and early Tuesday, said Rubel Hawladar, officer-in-charge of Khulshi Police Station.

No long-route buses left Chattogram district on Tuesday.

Police arrested 14 picketers from the Akbar Shah City Gate area in the afternoon, said Waliullah Akbar, officer-in-charge of Akbar Shah Police Station.

In Manikganj, 10 were injured in a clash with police at Seota Manra area. Manikganj Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdur Rouf Sarker said BNP leaders and activists threw bricks at the police and police fired blank bullets to bring the situation under control.

Five people were arrested from the scene, he added.

Apart from BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, the 12-party alliance, Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote, LDP, Gonoforum, People's Party, Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Labour Party and NDM are also observing the blockade separately.

The BNP and like-minded opposition parties enforced the blockade to pressure the Awami League government to resign and hold the next election under a non-party neutral administration.

The AL vowed to resist any violence during the blockade.

Consumers' sufferings reached their peak in the last four days amid the ongoing political tensions, as some traders started cashing in on the supply crunch, raising the prices of several essentials sharply.

Onion prices jumped by 50-60 per cent, retailing at Tk 130-145 per kg on Tuesday. Potato prices skyrocketed to Tk 60-80 per kg in the last four days, marking a further increase of Tk 15-20 per kg.

According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), potato prices soared by 20-25 per cent in a week, and by 40-50 per cent in a month and the current price is 109 per cent higher than a year ago.

Coarse rice, farm chicken, vegetables, cultured fish and some spices also showed further hikes of 6.0-15 per cent during the period.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said that "oligarchs" had started taking advantage of the political turmoil.

He said that all essential-laden trucks had entered Dhaka city early on Tuesday morning.

There was hardly any shortage of supply of any goods on the first day of the blockade, he said.

However, the prices of most essentials showed another hike on the day, he said.

He said that onion and potato prices had risen to a record high amid a lack of market monitoring and a lack of jail terms for wrongdoers.

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