Police picked up 53 leaders and activists of BNP and its associated bodies, including Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, in the capital and port city on the first day of the opposition-sponsored 36-hour countrywide hartal.
Meanwhile, pickets vandalised a human hauler in the city’s Shahjahanpur and torched two buses at Mirpur-13.
The law enforcers charged batons on photojournalists while they were covering events in front of BNP office at Naya Paltan, leaving four of them injured.
Twenty three were picked up in Dhaka and 30 in Chittagong.
The law enforcers held seven people, including a Jubo Dal leader of Cantonment unit, Omar Faruq, when he, along with the party activists, tried to bring out a procession at Mohakhali in the capital at about 9:15am.
Hearing the news, former home minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and BNP Vice-president Hafiz Uddin, who were inside a Mohakhali restaurant, went out and delivered speeches regarding the caretaker government system.
Police held the two BNP leaders and three others from near Mohakhali Flyover at about 10:00am.
They also picked up seven women activists of BNP from the spot.
Altaf and Hafiz were taken to Cantonment Police Station.
Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Gulshan Division) Khandaker Lutful Kabir, however, said police picked up only nine activists from Mohakhali area.
Our correspondent reported that pro-hartal activists exploded two cocktails in front of Jonaki Cinema Hall in Naya Paltan area in the morning.
Meanwhile, BNP leaders and activists could not enter its Naya Paltan office as the law enforcers almost cordoned off the office since the morning.
Police held Nur-e-Ara Safa, president of Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal, from in front of the office at about 11:00am.
As photojournalists attempted to take photograph this time, police charged batons on them, injuring four of them.
The injured photojournalists are Manjurul Islam of Channel i, Mohsin of ATN Bangla, Shibli of Desh TV and Taposh of ntv (full names of all the injured not available immediately).
The photojournalists present there staged an impromptu sit-in programme protesting the police action.
Fire Brigade and Civil Defence sources said miscreants set fire to a staff bus of Krishi Bank at about 4:50am while another bus of My Line Paribahan at around 5:00am at Mirpur-13.
On information, firefighters rushed to the spot and put out the blaze.
Both the buses were parked on the road when those were torched, said sources.
Pickets at about 10:45am vandalised a human hauler, popularly known as Maxi, in Shahjahanpur area and fled the scene.
In Chittagong, police did not let leaders and activists of BNP and its associate organisations could not gather anywhere to enforce the hartal.
Police confined BNP activists at the Enayatbazar party office and four mobile courts are on duty to punish anyone caught in the act of vandalism or any kind of destructive activities, our correspondent in Chittagong reports.
Police picked up 23 people, including 14 women activists of BNP, from Bohaddarhat and Kazir Dewri area in the port city in the morning.
Seven others were picked from other points in the city.
Talking to The Daily Star, Amena Begum, DC (north) of police, confirmed the arrest of 30 in the city.
Our Bogra correspondent reports, a man was killed and four injured as a truck rammed a rickshaw-van after being chased by the pickets in the town at about 11:30am.
The injured were admitted to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, a mobile court fined four youths -- Sanjib Hossain, 18, Shajim, 18, Shahinur Rahman, 20, and Iqramul Haque, 20 -- Tk 500 each on charge of vandalising vehicles during the hartal hours.
In Chandpur, local Jamaat-e-Islami activists brought out a procession in the town. Law enforcers intercepted the procession when it reached JM Sengupta road at about 7:45am, triggering a chase and counter-chase between them.
At one stage, the pro-hartal activists pelted brick chips on the law enforcers, leaving five policemen of Chandpur Model Police Station injured.
BNP and its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami enforced the hartal demanding continuation of caretaker government system and protesting at the recommendations of the parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendment.
It is the longest hartal in duration since the Awami League-led grand alliance came to power. The opposition on June 5 enforced a dawn-to-dusk strike on the caretaker system issue.
Other two components of BNP-led alliance -- Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) and Islami Oikya Jote (Aminee) -- will also observe the non-stop shutdown.
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