10 vehicles torched as blockade continues

FE Report | Published: January 11, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The countrywide indefinite blockade, enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, was going on amid incidents of arson attacks and cocktail blasts on the fifth consecutive day on Saturday.
The train schedule across the country collapsed and most of the inter-district buses went off. Few buses were running on different highways under police escort, sources said.
Some bus counter staff working at Gabtoli, Kalyanpur, Mohakhali and Sayedabad told the FE that some of their buses left the city Saturday evening for Chittagong, Sylhet and some other destinations with help of the security forces.
The movement of launches from Sadarghat terminal was almost normal on the fifth day of the blockade, sources said.
Meanwhile, normalcy returned in the capital as buses, cars and other modes of transports were plying the streets smoothly, barring few stray incidents.
However, at least 10 buses, trucks and cars were set on fire or came under arson attack across the country, including five vehicles in the capital city Saturday.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia announced the blockade on January 5 as the government did not allow the BNP and its allies to hold rallies in the capital and elsewhere.
Sources said a Chittagong-bound train, Godhuli Express, derailed in Nangalkot area of Comilla in the early hours Saturday as the fishplate was removed by blockaders there.
Rail communication of Chittagong with Dhaka and Sylhet remained suspended for six hours following the train derailment. Train service resumed around 11:30am, said railway officials.
Sources said miscreants hurled two crude bombs at the state-run BTV complex Saturday afternoon. Two crude bombs went off inside the complex around 1:30pm, Rampura police said.
In the capital, at least five buses were torched or set on fire at Motijheel, Tejgaon, Shahbagh and Banasree.
Duty officer Mohammad Ali of Fire Service and Civil Defence said 11 incidents of arson attacks on trucks and buses took place across the country from Friday night to Saturday evening.
He said a truck and a pick-up were set on fire in Bogra, two goods-laden trucks and a lorry in Dinajpur, one truck at Gobindaganj in Gaibandha, a cement-laden truck in Comilla on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, a bus in Magura and four other buses in the capital city.
Meanwhile, some 30 people were reportedly injured or burnt in arson attacks and violence in different parts across the country, police said.
A clash between the ruling party supporters, Janasanghati Parisad-led student group and police erupted in Rangamati town. The police imposed section 144 in Rangamati town to combat violence.
Meanwhile, police said some cocktails exploded Saturday afternoon in front of the ruling Awami League's headquarters in Dhaka.
The security personnel arrested a youth in connection with blasts on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Several youths gathered there, exploded three handmade bombs and fled the scene, witnesses said.
Police detained around 50 people across the country during violence or during the raid on the houses of the BNP-led 20-party alliance leaders and workers.
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