The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies in the ongoing one-point movement to oust the ruling Awami League on Monday announced another 48-hour blockade from Wednesday morning.The announcement came hours before the opposition-enforced nationwide communication blockade ended this morning.

BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Liberal Democratic Party, and Ganatantra Mancha announced the fresh agitation programmes separately.

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the fresh countrywide blockade programme at a virtual press conference Monday afternoon.

The first two spells of nationwide blockade from October 31 to November 2 and November 5 to November 6 were marked by widespread incidents of violence, including clashes, arson, and vandalism.

The opposition parties earlier enforced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on October 29, protesting police and ruling party attacks on its October 28 grand rally at Naya Paltan.

The fire service received a total of 21 reports of fire incidents countrywide in 38 hours from 4:00am Sunday to 6:00pm Monday, during the latest spell of communication blockade.A fire service and civil defence release said that during this period, 15 buses, two trucks, a car, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw and a leguna were set on fire.

Twelve incidents occurred in Dhaka city, four in Dhaka division (Gazipur and Narayanganj), four in Chattogram division (Khagrachari), and one in Rajshahi division (Bogura).

On the second day of the blockade, the number of public transport was thin in the capital.CNG-run auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, and rickshaws dominated the empty roads and travelled smoothly without facing traffic signals.

The presence of people in most of the offices, including banking and non-banking financial institutions, was also found to be low, like the previous day.

Educational institutions that were open also had a low presence of students amid fear of violence.The city’s many shops were also closed on the day.

The shops that were open also had a poor number of customers.Leaders and activists of the BNP and its allies in the simultaneous movement brought out processions at several places in the capital in support of the blockade.United Lawyers Front, a platform of pro-opposition parties, also brought out a procession at the Supreme Court premises supporting the countrywide blockade programme.

The leaders and activists of AL and its associated bodies also took positions at different spots in the capital, holding brief rallies and bringing out processions, wielding sticks.Huge numbers of law enforcement agencies were seen patrolling on roads, in and around bus and launch terminals, and on highways.

Like the first day of the blockade, almost all the inter-district buses were off the streets due to a lack of passengers and a fear of arson.Bus terminals were found deserted, and the buses were seen parked inside and outside of the terminals while the transport works passed idle time, with most counters closed.

Despite instruction from high-ups in the government to operate buses even with low numbers of passengers and assurance of safety, the owners of the long-route buses did not operate their buses on the day.The few buses that operated had a scarcity of passengers.During a visit to the Mohakhali terminal, it was found that all thebus counters except Ena Paribahan and Soukhin Paribaha were closed.

‘We are operating buses, though there is a shortage of passengers,’ said Antor, a ticket seller from Ena.The scenarios of the Gabtoli and Sayedabad bus terminals were also the same, where most of the counters were closed and only a few buses operated.

Saudia Paribahan Dhaka city in-charge, Md Ibrahim Hossain, at Sayedabad, said that they could not run a single bus in the past two days.

‘We, along with our staff members, are going through a very tough time as most of the transport workers are paid on a daily wage basis,’ he added.

Imran Travels counter master, Md Milton, said that no bus of the company could leave the terminal on Monday. ‘It is now very tough to find a passenger.’

Meanwhile, the number of passengers at the Sadarghat launch terminal slightly increased on the second day of the blockade.

A total of 29 launches departed from Sadarghat, and 35 launches arrived at the terminal from 6:00am to 6:00pm.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority joint director Alamgir Kabir claimed many passengers are preferring launches instead of buses due to the fear of arson on the highways amid the blockade.

Besides, all trains departed and arrived on schedule, but with a slightly increased number of passengers compared to the past few days.

New Age Jahangirnagar University correspondent reported that the pro-BNP teachers of Jahangirnagar University on Monday distributed leaflets on the campus, appealing to all to join them in the democracy restoration movement by unseating the incumbent government.

The teachers were also seen making public interactions in support of their November 7 programme, which BNP observes as the ‘civil-military uprising’ day.

New Age correspondent in Barishal reported that five BNP activists were arrested for allegedly blasting a cocktail in Bakerganj upazila of the district on Monday.

They were arrested while trying to create panic among the public by exploding cocktails on the Barishal-Patuakhali highway, claimed Bakerganj Police officer-in-charge SM Maksudur Rahman.

Parts of cocktail-like objects have also been seized as evidence, he said.Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal locked the administrative building of the government, Brajo Mohun College, on the second day of the second round of the blockade programme.

Administrative and academic activities, however, were disrupted due to this, said BM College principal Golam Kibria.

JCD organising secretary Taslim said they locked the college gate to make the blockade successful.