The local unit of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday enforced a half-day general strike in Sirajganj town in protest at the arrest of the municipal mayor, M Mokaddes Ali.
The police arrested Mokaddes, the district unit BNP's general secretary, at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on June 22 in a case of violence relating to tender bid submission filed with the Ramna police.
The half-day general strike beginning at 6:00am on Sunday was, however, peaceful.
During strike hours, most of the shops, banks and educational institutions were closed. No pickets were on the roads.
Train and long-route bus schedules were normal. Buses were off the roads in the town.
The Sirajganj unit BNP president, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, also an adviser to the BNP chairperson, in a letter thanked the residents of the town for observing the general strike.
He said that tougher programmes would be taken if Mokaddes were not released in a week.
Source : New Age
