Jamaat shutdown on

Jamaat-e-Islami is enforcing a whole-day nationwide strike for the second successive day on Wednesday under tight security arrangements made by law-enforcing agencies .

Four people had died in clashes in Chittagong during the Jamaat strike on Tuesday, when violence erupted following an attack on a police station in which Jamaat supporters reportedly used firearms.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in Dhaka since Tuesday night, after clashes, vandalism, arson and sporadic bomb blasts were reported throughout Bangladesh.

Policemen and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were seen deployed at all key points in Dhaka.

Supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student affiliate Islami Chhatra Shibir attempted to block the Shewrapara road in Mirpur at capital around 6:30am. Police chased them away. Two people were nabbed from scene, said Kafrul Police Station Officer in-Charge Abdul Latif.

Around the same time pro-shutdown supporters and the police were engaged in a cat-and-mouse chase in the Mirpur-1 and Bangla College area. Witnesses say strike supporters damaged some vehicles in the area and attacked a police vehicle in Mirpur-

A cat-and-mouse chase was also seen in Rayerbagh area in Jatrabari (capital) around 7:00am. Two people were held from scene, said Jatrabari Police Station Sub-Inspector Emranul Islam.

The Islamist party extended the strike to Wednesday, after International Crimes Tribunal-2 pronounced a life sentence for Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla.

Jamaat Acting Secretary General Mawlana Rafiqul Islam Khan in a statement rejected the verdict as ‘politically motivated and government directed’ and said demonstrations against it will continue .

The statement also said Abdul Quader Mollah and all other top leaders would be freed from jail ‘through movements’.

Jamaat’s former member Abul Kalam Azad, aka Bachchu Razakar was sentenced to death over charges of murder, rape and loot on January 21.

The Jamaat-e-Islami has been attacking police and unleashing vandalism and arson throughout Bangladesh in recent weeks after their agitation against the war crimes trials intensified. One bank employee died in Dhaka's Uttara locality on Monday night, after Jamaat supporters set fire to a bus.

The Jan 31 shutdown by the Islamist party was backed by BNP, but now the BNP has said it does not support the Jamaat's demand for a repeal of the war crimes tribunals.