The first day of the 48-hour hartal, called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is going on on Wednesday in Dhaka and Khulna divisions in protest against the false cases, arrests and demanding release of party leaders and activists.

The shutdown began around 6am which will end on 6am Friday.

Hartal supporters blasted two crude bombs at Badda in the capital in the morning. Miscreants set fire to a bus at Kalyanpur around 7:45am.

Additional police have been deployed at the key point of the city.

Earlier, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the hartal.

On the other hand, a 36-hour hartal, called by the BNP-led 20 party alliance, is going on protesting the confinement of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and demanding the immediate release of the leaders and activists of the alliance.


TF