Miscreants on Wednesday afternoon set fire to a rod-laden lorry, owned by Awami League lawmaker Didarul Alam, on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in Sitakunda end of the district on the second day of the countrywide blockaded enforced by the BNP-Jamaat and like-minded opposition parties.
The vehicle’s driver Md Ismail was injured and the engine of the 18-wheel lorry was burnt in the fire, said Didarul Alam, an elected MP from Sitakunda upazila-Mirsarai (partial) constituency.
He said the miscreants set fire to the vehicle while it was heading towards Dhaka from Chattogram in Panthichhila area of the upazila.
Locals said two youths riding on a motorbike set the lorry on fire by hurling petrol bombs and left the scene immediately.
Read: Opposition blockade: Clashes, vandalism, arson mark 2nd day
On information, a firefighting unit from Sitakunda Fire Service and Civil Defence rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.
Moreover, miscreants torched a vehicle and exploded cocktails in Kadamtali area under Kotwali police station of the port city of Chattogram amid the blockade.
Kotwali’s Officer-in-charge Jahidul Kabir said they detained a man named Towhidul Islam from the spot and recovered one crude cocktail and two petrol bombs.
A legal process was underway to file cases in this connection, he said.
In a statement, city chapter BNP claimed that their 20 leaders and activists were arrested by the police.
Read: DMP Commissioner seeks info from city residents about attackers
The law enforcers continued raids on the houses of the leaders and activists of the opposition parties and also their relatives’ houses, it reads.
Despite obstructions by the law enforcers, the party fellows observed the blockade for the second consecutive day on Wednesday in the city’s Kadamtali intersection, Agrabad Excess Road’s Boropol area and Chhetshwari Road.
Moreover, BNP men brought a torch procession in Boalkhai upazila on Wednesday evening in favour of the blockade.
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