BNP-BCL clash mars strike in Chittagong

A group of BNP activists fought pitched battles with the pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists in Chittagong during the opposition-sponsored whole-day nationwide strike on Tuesday.

Witnesses said the incident started when BNP activists, waiting in front of their party office at Nasiman Bhaban, hurled brickbats at an anti-strike motorcycle procession of the BCL at around 2:15pm in the port city’s Naval Avenue intersection and subsequently chased them.

While the Awami League student front activists responded by hurling bricks, witnesses said the pro-BNP activists smashed a motorcycle of BCL activists and set fire to another.

Later, police brought the situation under control.

Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station AKM Mohiuddin Selim told bdnews24.com that the situation in the port city was under control.

Hundreds of pro-BNP activists had taken position in front of its party office since morning in support of the daylong shutdown.

The BNP called for the shutdown protesting against what it termed as ‘police brutalities’ that led to large number of deaths during the Jamaat shutdowns over the past few days.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the BNP, ran amok after the war crimes tribunal sentenced its leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee to death on charges of crimes against humanity during the nation’s War of Independence in 1971.

Around 50 people were killed in the violent spree unleashed by the radical party and its student front, Islami Chhatra Shibir, in various districts of Bangladesh.

The BNP chief Khaleda Zia, a former Prime Minister, had cancelled her meeting with the visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee citing security reasons during Jamaat-sponsored shutdown on Monday.