150 hurt, 200 held

With overwhelming presence of law enforcers and ruling Awami League activists in the streets, opposition BNP's dawn-to-dusk hartal yesterday passed without any major untoward incidents.
Top ranking BNP leaders including most of the members of the party's standing committee were not seen in the streets during the showdown. Even leaders like Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Moudud Ahmed, who were very much vocal about enforcing the hartal, were indoors.
The capital, however, saw less private cars and passenger vehicles on streets with rickshaws dominating the major thoroughfares due to the panic created by mass arrest, security measures of the law enforcers and burning of vehicles Monday night.
Sporadic clashes between the law enforcers and pro-hartal activists across the country left around 150 people injured and 200 detained. Of them, over 50 were injured while 65 arrested in the capital. Many of the arrestees were released in the evening.
State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku said police only picked up those who were trying to provoke violence during the hartal.
In Keraniganj, a series of clashes between hartal supporters and law enforcers left 50 people including seven policemen injured. Police picked up seven BNP activists from the spot.
During the clashes, police used around 200 rubber bullets and teargas canisters while the picketers brick chips, bamboos and sticks.
Meanwhile, pro-hartal activists set two buses ablaze in the old part of the capital and Uttara area. Two cocktails (handmade bombs) exploded in front of the BNP central office in Nayapaltan, Dhaka at the eleventh hour of the hartal.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain termed the hartal successful and claimed that at least 3,000 BNP activists were arrested across the country while over 2,000 more were injured by ruling party men and law enforcers since Saturday till yesterday evening.
He said a fresh agitation programme would soon be declared in consultation with their political allies.
The hartal supporters could not bring out processions in the capital in the face of obstructions from the law enforcers and frantic arrests. BNP-ally Jamaat-e-Islami brought out hasty processions in four places of the capital including one for a few minutes in Motijheel. The Jamaat leaders and activists whisked away from the procession at Motijheel hearing siren of an ambulance.
On the other hand, the leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies brought out anti-hartal processions in different districts across the country. AL student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) staged huge anti-hartal showdown with motorbike procession in Mirpur and Uttara areas of the capital and took position at strategic points to keep hartal supporters off the street.
Things went the same in port city Chittagong.
Police were seen indifferent to ruling party showdown and alert about BNP activists yesterday.
Additional police have been deployed at all strategic points in the capital including in front of BNP headquarters.
Yesterday's hartal did not affect operations of trains, launches and domestic and international flights although no long-route bus left from Gabtoli, Shyamoli and Kalyanpur terminals since morning.
All educational institutions and business establishments and most shops on major thoroughfares remained closed while government offices and readymade garment factories were open yesterday.
BNP HQ
Police charged batons on hartal supporters when a procession led by BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi approached the party central office in the morning. The law enforcers picked up 13 persons including former lawmaker Bilkis Jahan Shirin.
BNP Secretary General Delwar Hossain and its Senior Joint Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir reached the office around 8:00am but they were not allowed to stay on the road.
Police also held lawmaker Nilufar Chowdhury Moni and former lawmaker Helen Zerin Khan when they were tried to enter the party office. Both of them were released in the evening.
BNP men could not gather in front of the office the whole day as law enforcers kept detaining anyone approaching the party office. DIG Asaduzzaman and Rab officer Maj Emarat Hossain were on duty there.
OTHER SPOTS IN DHAKA
Leaders of BNP's student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal burned tyres in front of Government Titumir College yesterday morning.
Witnesses said police barred BNP standing committee member Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah at Mohakhali intersection when he along with some party activists were going to Titumir College area to see hartal activities. Police picked up two activists from the spot.
BCL activist however were seen chanting anti-hartal slogans and patrolling the college area. State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak also brought out procession against the hartal in Mohammadpur area.
Meanwhile, miscreants set a bus ablaze in front of Jagannath University around 3:15pm. Police doused the fire, said fire brigade.