As the opposition’s agitation takes a violent shape, the government has hinted at “tough measures” against the arsonists, who have been targeting the policemen with petrol bombs and carrying attacks on buses and private vehicles.
At least 30 people have been killed and scores injured, mostly due to serious burn injuries, across Bangladesh since the beginning of the indefinite transport blockade called by Khaleda Zia on January 5 to force the Sheikh Hasina government to call fresh election.
Six policemen were badly injured when the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked a police vehicle in Dhaka with petrol bombs on Saturday. The police van caught fire as the law enforcers were returning to barracks.
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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who visited the injured policemen at a hospital, on Sunday, directed law enforcers to hunt down the bomb makers and attackers.
However, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the government has no plan to deploy the army-led joint force to contain the violence. He hoped that the Rapid Action Battalion, Border Guard Bangladesh and police would be able to tackle the situation. Meanwhile, the ruling Awami League and its alliance partners have ordered their people to form “Resistance Committees” in each towns and villages across the country as a response to rising vandalism.
The government on Sunday blocked popular Internet services Viber and Tango on security grounds, said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
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The media reports said the authorities have also communicated to several embassies in Dhaka that the services will be temporarily inactive from 12a.m., Sunday to 12a.m., Monday.