Blockades mark hartal in Rangpur

The photo shows few auto-rickshaws plying the street at Payra Chattar intersection in Rangpur city on Monday during a half-day hartal (shutdown) enforced by the BNP and its associate bodies. Photo: TV grab

Pickets put barricades in two areas of Rangpur district during the eight-hour hartal (shutdown) enforced by the BNP and its associate bodies on Monday.

The Rangpur district unit of BNP and its associate bodies called the shutdown demanding release of six leaders of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, youth and student fronts of the BNP, and withdrawal of ‘false’ cases filed against them.

Police arrested them along with crude bombs at the city on May 20.

The hartal ended at 2:00pm without any major incident, reports our Rangpur correspondent quoting Md Shahabuddin Khalifa, officer-in-charge (OC) of Rangpur Kotwali Police Station.

The pro-hartal activists blocked the road in front of Begum Rokeya University at Pairabandh in Mithapukur upazila and Rangpur-Pirgachha road at Bokchi in Satmatha area of the city by felling logs around 8:30am, the OC said.

Nearly 30-minute after, police managed to disperse the pro-hartal activists from the roads.

Business establishments and roadside shops remain closed in the morning while vehicular movements in the city roads were very thin.

All educational institutions remain open. But the presence of the students was thin.

Earlier on Sunday night, miscreants vandalised nearly 30 vehicles including bus, truck, pick-up vans and auto-rickshaws in different parts of the city including Rangpur Medical College and Hospital intersection, Zila Parishad Super Market, Park intersection and Darshana intersection, the OC said.

At least 15 passengers were injured during the vandalism, the OC said.

Police picked up five persons in connection with the vandalism following the violence in the night, he added.

BACKGROUND

On May 20, police arrested Raich Ahmed, president of Jubo Dal Rangpur district unit and assistant general secretary of its central committee; Mahfuz-un-Nabi Don, vice-president of JCD central committee; Anisur Rahman Laku, general secretary of Jubo Dal Rangpur district unit and assistant organising secretary of its central committee; and Zahir Alam Nayan, president of JCD Rangpur district.