Angry people also attacked power offices in six districts--Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Cox's Bazar, Manikganj, Sylhet and Sherpur--last night and the night before.

Thousands of power-hungry people besieged the local power distribution offices at Dhalpur at 7:00pm and at Shanir Akhra at 9:30pm.

People started coming out to streets from 7:00pm at Sayedabad, Jatrabari, Shyampur, Koratitola and Islambagh, protesting repeated load shedding during the day.

The angry crowd also blocked rail communication on the Kamalapur-Narayanganj rail route.

Earlier, the mob formed a human-chain on Elephant Road and demonstrated on Nazimuddin Road at Lalbagh demanding uninterrupted supply of electricity.

angered by continuous power failure even during the first week of Ramadan, thousands of power-hungry people blocked the streets from Swamibagh to Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at about 9:30pm.

They burnt tyres in front of the Dhalpur power distribution office and ransacked around 50 vehicles on the streets, witnesses said.

The agitators assaulted two police officials at Shanir Akhra as they tried to disperse the mob, which led to chase-counter chase between the law enforcers and agitators.

Officials of the Shanir Akhra power office fled the office premises fearing attacks on them.

A resident of Dhalpur said they have been suffering from acute crises of water and electricity supply for the last few days. "We will block road and rail communications for an indefinite time if uninterrupted power supply is not ensured," he said.

Road communication was not restored at Shanir Akhra as of 1:30am today.

UNB adds: Power-hungry people stormed into a power sub-station at Islambagh at about 8:00pm yesterday and damaged its furniture and windowpanes.

When contacted, a Desa official said the area under Islambagh sub-station has been experiencing a severe power crisis for the last few weeks.

The supply situation aggravated on Tuesday after a 210MW unit at Ghorashal Power Station tripped due to technical faults, bringing down the total power generation to below 3,000MW.

Sources in the PDB said the power supply situation worsened when 110MW power plant at Haripur tripped at 5:57am yesterday, but the plant resumed power generation after a quick repair.

Like the previous day, Dhaka city and its adjoining areas experienced 600MW load shedding. The situation in other cities and rural areas deteriorated further. Many rural areas had been without electricity for hours together.

In Sylhet, people set ablaze the Power Development Board office in the city at 9:00pm yesterday, protesting frequent power outage.

Witnesses said about 300 people, angered by the load shedding, stormed into the Power Development & Transmission Division-2 office at Jail Road. They ransacked the office, damaged its furniture and set it on fire.

Fire fighters rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze at 9:30pm.

Palli Bidyut office at Zakiganj was also came under attack on Tuesday night due to load shedding for hours together.

Witnesses said load shedding in the upazila town from 6:00pm angered the residents. After the 'tarabi' prayers they attacked the Palli Bidyut office and officers' quarters.

As police intervened, the angry people swooped on the law enforcers, leading to a clash between the two sides. At least 20 people, including four policemen, were injured.

In Cox's Bazar, at least 4,000 Muslim devotees attacked Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) office after 'tarabi' prayers for power outage during Iftar and Tarabi prayers in the last two days.

After the prayers, devotees from PM Khalli, Bangla Bazar, Muhuripara and Linkroad areas attacked the PBS office at College Gate in the district town with sticks, prompting Ansars to fire blank shots.

On information, police rushed to the spot and charged baton on the power-hungry devotees.

In Manikganj, local people attacked power offices in Daulatpur, Shibalaya, Saturia and Singair upazilas due to frequent load shedding in the evening.

The angry people in Singair upazila also beat up a lineman, Tajul Islam, during the attack.

In Sherpur, local people laid a siege to Tinani Bazar PDB office and asked its employees to increase electricity supply within 24 hours or face a tougher agitation.

PDB officials said they supplied only 4MW of electricity in the district against the demand for 14MW yesterday.

When contacted, the PDB officials said they have nothing to do with the load shedding as power supply in the district is being controlled by 132/33 kv grid substation in Jamalpur.

In Narayanganj, devotees attacked the Fatulla power sub-station and ransacked it on Tuesday night, protesting power failure during 'tarabi' prayers.

Locals said as power went off during the 'tarabi' prayers, hundreds of devotees took to the street and staged demonstration in front of Fatulla power station at Panchabati at 9:00pm.

They hurled brickbats at the power station, forcing the employees to flee. The angry people also took away a wireless set of a power worker and damaged furniture of the office and a pick-up van.

They also blocked the Dhaka-Narayanganj highway, halting traffic for about an hour. Police later brought the situation under control.

The devotees alleged that power outage during 'iftar and tarabi' prayers has become a regular phenomenon, causing untold sufferings to them.

In Narsingdi, workers of Kararchar BSCIC industrial estate in Shibpur upazila yesterday put up a barricade on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, demanding uninterrupted power supply.

Over 10,000 workers blocked the highway at about 8:45am, disrupting traffic for about three hours.

The workers, however, withdrew the barricade at about 11:45am as the deputy commissioner assured them of meeting their demand.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the highway during the barricade.

The upazila is experiencing load shedding eight to nine hours daily, hampering production in the industrial estate where workers get their wages on the basis of output.