The BNP-led 20-party alliance Saturday called a 36-hour nationwide hartal from 6:00am on Sunday to 6:00pm on Monday in protest against the arrest of its leaders and activists amid the countrywide non-stop blockade passing off its nineteenth day.
"The shutdown is also meant for protesting the government's move for increasing power tariff," BNP acting secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said in a press statement.
Rizvi, on behalf of the 20-party combine, urged all, including the leaders and activists of the alliance, to make the hartal a success.
Though the country saw the blockade as usual on Saturday, the volume of traffic increased in the capital.
After being failed to come out of her Gulshan office to join a planned rally of the 20-party alliance in the city to mark "Democracy Killing Day" on January 5, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia announced the blockade for an indefinite period.
Very few long-route buses left or arrived in Dhaka due to the blockade on the nineteenth day.
Some launches and trains arrived at and departed from the capital amid schedule mess, witnesses and transport operators said.
Six people among 27 who received burn injuries in arson attack Friday night in city's Jatrabari were in critical condition.
Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) burn unit coordinator Samanta Lal Sen said six of them were in critical condition.
In Dhaka, miscreants torched a launch at Sadarghat Launch Terminal in the capital while hurled several crude bombs at a steamer in Jhalakathi on Saturday.
Fire service officials said some unidentified people boarded the Barisal-bound launch, MV Tipu-6, in the guise of passengers at Sadarghat launch terminal.
They set fire to a cabin on its 2nd floor around 6pm as passengers were getting into it.
On information, three fire fighting units rushed in and doused the blaze around 6:38pm.
In Jhalakathi, miscreants hurled 3-4 crude bombs at passenger steamer 'MV Bangalee' from over the Gabkhan Bridge in the Gabkhan River of Sadar upazila in the afternoon.
The officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station said the streamer plying the Dhaka-Khulna route came under the arson attack while it was passing through the area around 3pm.
The steamer roof was partially damaged in the attack. However, no one was injured in the attack, the OC added.
In Jamalpur, BNP's locked office at Nayabazar was burnt on Saturday afternoon, Sadar Police Station OC Mujibur Rahman Majumdar said.
Fire Service officials doused the fire immediately, he said.
In Rajshahi: BNP-Jamaat activists vandalised at least 20 vehicles in Kapasia Bazar area on Rajshahi-Dhaka highway.
In Narayanganj, five miscreants were caught and beaten up and handed over to police while vandalising a bus.
The incident took place on the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Munshiganj road in Kashipur area around 1pm on Saturday, Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sazzadur Rahman said.
In Munshiganj, three miscreants were caught while vandalising a bus at Muktarpur at 1pm.
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Launch set ablaze at Sadarghat on 19th day of blockade
FE Report | Published: January 25, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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