7-hour curfew break in Dhaka, 3 other districts

The government has decided to continue the ongoing nationwide curfew until further notice.

The curfew will remain in force in Dhaka, Narsingdi, Narayanganj and Gazipur with a seven-hour break from 10:00am to 5:00pm today and tomorrow.

It also decided to keep all government, semi-government and autonomous offices open from 11:00am to 3:00pm today after the three-day general holiday, according to public administration ministry officials.

In Dinajpur, curfew will be relaxed between 8:00am and 5:00pm, said Shakil Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the district.

In Chattogram, curfew will be relaxed from 9:00am to 6:00pm, said Chattogram DC Abul Bashar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan has instructed that the judicial functions of all the courts across the country, including the Appellate and High Court divisions of the Supreme Court, will remain suspended during the curfew hours.

The courts will resume judicial proceedings if the curfew is relaxed.

The SC administration yesterday issued three notifications in this regard detailing the instructions.

The offices and sections of the courts will remain open as usual even during the curfew.

If the government declares any general holiday, the courts will remain closed on that particular day, SC Registrar General Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan told The Daily Star citing the notifications.

According to a notification, the district judges, district and sessions judges, metropolitan sessions judges, chief judicial magistrates and chief metropolitan magistrates will fix the timing of their courts and offices after coordinating with the district magistrates and the police commissioners concerned.

They will conduct the judicial functions after informing the judges, officials and lawyers about the timing.

In Gazipur, eight factories were shut in Sreepur upazila yesterday for running operations during the curfew hours, said Assistant Commissioner (land) of Sreepur Atahar Shakil.