Supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its rightwing ally Jamaat-e-Islami set afire vehicles and exploded crude bombs in the capital city Dhaka as the strike got under way early this morning.
The incidents of clashes, arson, vandalism and homemade bomb blasts were reported from other parts of the country, including port city Chittagong, Rajshahi, Natore and Bogra.
In Rajshahi, demonstrators attacked a Hindu temple and vandalised several shops, Bdnews24 reported. In Chittagong, the report said picketers stopped an auto-rickshaw carrying a pregnant woman to a hospital and set it afire.
Opposition supporters tried to set on fire a record room of Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate's court using petrol. Officials said the blaze damaged some documents. However, public life in Dhaka remained largely normal as people joined their works.
More From This Section
In northwestern Joypurhat, the opposition members set two trains afire, injuring nearly 70 passengers.
Demonstrators torched the two trains - Rupsha Express and Rocket Mail - within a short span of time at Joypurhat, a railway spokesman told PTI. The trains were bound for southwestern Khulna, he added.
Police said opposition members hacked to death a ruling Awami League supporter in western Jessore while a BNP worker was killed in shootout with police in neighbouring Faridpur.
The third death occurred in Pabna as activists of the ruling party allegedly opened fire on BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami men in Ishwardi upazila, the Daily Star reported. Two other persons were killed elsewhere in the country.
"Some 11 vehicles were set on fire at different parts of the (Dhaka) city since the morning," a police spokesman said.