Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The BNP-led 18-party alliance enforced a dawn-to-dusk strike demanding unconditional release of its leaders and withdrawal of the cases against them is progressing without any major incident of violence on Thursday.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan announced the strike, generally known as hartal, program from an emergency press conference held at its Nayapaltan central office Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, five cocktails went off near Germany Technical in Mirpur consecutively around 7:30am.
The pro-hartal activists also brought out a procession and vandalized a vehicle near Prime University in Mirpur, according to reports.
The key city streets, which usually remain bustling from morning, wear an empty look as most of the passenger buses and private cars stay off roads fearing vandalism.
Very few CNG run three wheelers were seen to ply the city streets during the morning hours.
Rickshaws were found dominating the major thoroughfares of the city like other strike days.
No long-route buses left the city terminal since the morning. The train and launch services however remain normal.
All educational institutions, business establishments, most shops and shopping malls besides the major thoroughfares remained closed.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other high-profile opposition leaders landed in jail on Wednesday after a Dhaka court rejected their bail prayers in an arson case filed for torching a bus near the Prime Minister’s Office during hartal on April 29.
BBN/SSR/AD-17May12-9:46 am (BST)
