BNP threatens fresh \\\'hartal\\\'

The BNP-led 20-party alliance threatened on Thursday to call a fresh spell of hartal once again from Sunday next alongside the ongoing blockade, if their demands including parliamentary polls under a neutral administration are not met.

The statement, signed by BNP Joint Secretary General Salah Uddin Ahmed, demanded immediate release of the political detainees, journalists, withdrawal of all fabricated cases filed against them and stopping extrajudicial killings by law enforcers.

"We (the alliance) will be compelled to enforce a fresh spell of countrywide shutdown from March 8 (Sunday next), unless an announcement meeting the demands is made by the government," it said.

The alliance issued the fresh hartal threat on the 59th day of the ongoing countrywide blockade that was marked by firebombing, clashes and blasts, leading to casualties in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

Earlier in the morning, at least four people were injured in clashes between Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), a student wing of the BNP, and the police along with Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), a student front of the ruling Awami League, at the campus of Dhaka University.

Four more people in two separate incidents were wounded when arsonists torched two vehicles - a bus and a goods-laden truck - in Manikganj and Lalmonirhat during the strike hours on the day.

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