5 injured in pre-shutdown violence in Dhaka

Five people, including three women, have been injured in violence in Dhaka on the eve of a 20-Party Alliance shutdown across Bangladesh.

Three of them suffered burns while the rest were injured in separate explosions.

All of them are being treated at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

The BNP-led coalition decided to enforce the general strike on Monday in protest against the denial of permission for its Gazipur rally and in order to press for the release of its arrested leaders.

DMCH police outpost Inspector Mozammel Hossain said rickshaw puller Harun-ur-Rashid, 40 was injured in an explosion at near Dhaka University's TSC on Sunday night.

Around the same time, Shathi Akter, 22, was hit by splinters from another explosion at the Central Shaheed Minar.

In Kaziparha, Shamsunnahar, 55, her son Tajibul Haq, 22, and daughter Anika, 18, were burned when miscreants torched the autorickshaw they were travelling in.

But the local police said they were unaware of an arson incident in the area.

Shamsunnahar said the miscreants stopped their autorickshaw when they were returning home after visiting a doctor.

The extent of the burns was not yet clear.

In the evening, suspected pro-strikers set ablaze a government bus at Paltan and exploded an improvised bomb near the BNP headquarters.