Blockaders set fire to the residence of Kansat movement leader Golam Rabbani in Pukhuria village of Shibganj upazila, Chapainawabganj, yesterday afternoon. Rabbani has obtained the Awami League ticket to contest the 10th parliamentary polls from Chapainawabganj-2. Photo: Star

A youth was killed in a clash as blockaders set fire to the house of Kansat movement leader Golam Rabbani in Chapainawabganj yesterday.
A gunfight in Natore left a Chhatra Dal leader killed and an auto-rickshaw driver in Chittagong died in an accident while fleeing from pickets as the opposition's 72-hour blockade continued.
Already neck-deep in trouble, people brace for further sufferings with BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed through a video message announcing an extension of the blockade till 5:00pm Thursday.
The opposition activists around 2:00pm attacked the residence of Golam Rabbani, the Awami League candidate for the 10th general election from Chapainawabganj-1  constituency.

Golam Rabbani

The belongings on the first floor of the two-storey building in Pukhuria village of Shibganj upazila were burned down. The attackers also set fire to the neighbouring house of his elder brother Abu Bakkar and a car and two trucks there, locals said.
The clash ensued when Awami League men tried to resist attack.
Rubel, 25, son of Khalilur Rahman, lived just opposite to Rabbani's house. He got injured in a blast as he came out to see what was going on, locals say.
Doctors declared him dead after he was rushed to Shibganj Upazila Health Complex. Several splinters hit him in the chest, said Rabiul Islam, medical officer of the health complex.
Rabbani, who led a people's movement for electricity during the past BNP-Jamaat rule in 2001-06, and his brother were unhurt in the attack.
The administration imposed Section 144 in Shibganj municipal area and Kansat union.
Saifuzzaman Sujan, 30, joint secretary of Natore municipality Chhatra Dal, was killed and 10 people were injured in a gunfight between activists of the AL and BNP.
The BNP was enforcing a dawn-to-dusk hartal demanding the release of Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu. Protesting the killing of Sujan, the main opposition party extended the hartal till 6:00pm Thursday.
Prior to the clash, the BNP men were marching towards Kanaikhali area, said the Nahid Hossain, superintendent of police in Natore. Police had barred the opposition men as Awami League activists had gathered there too.
The clash broke out around 11:00am after the BNP men moved forward in defiance of the police ban.
In Chittagong, auto-rickshaw driver Md Islam, 40, was speeding away when chased by pickets in Rangunia upazila last night. As his vehicle veered out of control and overturned, throwing him out, another auto-rickshaw hit him from behind.

A car is burning in his elder brother's house which too was torched by opposition activists. Photo: Star

Fatally injured Islam was taken to upazila health complex only to be declared dead around 11:00pm.
Yesterday morning, BNP-Jamaat activists fought pitched battles with police at Court Station Bazar in Rajshahi city, leaving at least 50 people, including a constable, injured.
A clash between BNP men and police near Chawk Bazar More in Bhola municipality area injured at least 52.
In Chittagong, five-year-old Sumaiya Akhter Sadia and five others were injured in bomb blasts and arson by the blockaders yesterday.
At least 50 others were hurt in clashes in Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Chandpur and Feni. The blockaders vandalised dozens of vehicles and exploded crude bombs in different districts, report our correspondents.
In Dhaka, a 14-year-old boy suffered serious splinter injuries as blockaders detonated crude bombs and set fire to the human haulier he was aboard in Jurain rail gate area around 1:30pm.
The right eye of a rickshaw-puller was badly hurt in an explosion near Joy Kali Temple.
Around 9:00pm yesterday, a bomb was thrown at the wall of Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu's Darussalam residence.
Two buses were set on fire near Dhakeshwari temple and in Pallabi area yesterday. According to the fire service, at least 11 vehicles were burned across the country yesterday.
A pro-blockade activist, caught red-handed while setting fire to a bus on Satmasjid Road in the capital on Sunday, confessed to being a Shibir member.
Attacks on railways continued as in the earlier two days of the blockade beginning on Saturday. BNP-Jamaat men ripped up fishplates in Gopalpur upazila of Tangail and Sarishabari of Jamalpur, snapping rail communications on some routes for hours.
They vandalised a commuter train in Dinajpur.
Rail links between Rajshahi and other parts of the country were restored 39 hours after a subversive act on the rail tracks in Charghat upazila.

Pickets torch the home of Kansat movement leader Golam Rabbani in Pukhuria of Chapainawabganj yesterday afternoon. Photo: Star

Similarly, train services from Chittagong to Dhaka and Sylhet have resumed after a 20-hour halt following derailment of an intercity train as blockaders removed fishplates from tracks in Comilla.
At least nine people were arrested in Burichang upazila of Comilla yesterday evening in connection with the sabotage.
The arrested include Serajul Islam, 60, Rajapur union parishad chairman and vice-chairman of Burichang upazila BNP.
The railway ministry yesterday urged all to inform it of possible sabotage through some mobile phone numbers. The numbers are: 01711-691564, 01711-691551, 01711-691621 and 01711691604.
Miscreants hurled three crude bombs targeting the vehicle of LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam in Tongi, while four bombs were thrown at the Lalmonirhat residence of Commerce Minister GM Quader yesterday. However, none was hurt in the attacks.
Ruling lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi yesterday alleged that blockaders had suddenly hurled brick chips on his convoy, compelling him to fire two blank rounds from his licensed shotgun.
In Sylhet, crude bombs were hurled at the circuit house building, the TV relay centre and an election office last night.