The first day of the opposition-enforced countrywide 48-hour blockade programme was held on Sunday amid intensified picketing on highways, arson attacks on vehicles, and continued police drives at houses and arrests of opposition people.

Activists of the opposition, during the blockade programme called by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Liberal Democratic Party, Ganatantra Mancha, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Amar Bangladesh Party, and other opposition parties and alliances, created blockades on major highways of the country, torching fire on tyres and logs, New Age correspondents reported from different districts.

Fire service officials said that at least 11 vehicles, mainly buses, were set on fire by miscreants between Saturday evening and Sunday evening.

Police arrested a good number of BNP and its front organisation activists during picketing.

Rajshahi reported that police on Sunday arrested six people in Rajshahi for bringing out a protest procession and picketing in support of the ongoing blockade.

The opposition political parties’ latest 48-hour blockade, the fourth spell of its kind in less than two weeks, began at 6:00 am on Sunday to press home their demand for the resignation of the Awami League government, dissolving the parliament, and holding the next general election under a non-party neutral government.

Witnesses said that a group of people brought out a protest procession at the City Haat area near locked BNP headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan around 6:45 am.

BNP activists also brought out brief processions at different places in Dhaka city, while ruling Awami League activists were seen vigilant with sticks and motorbikes processions on city roads.

Leaders of Ganatantra Mancha, a combine of six political parties, held a rally and procession in front of the National Press Club on Sunday in support of the simultaneous programme called by the BNP-led alliance.

Leaders and activists of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD, the Revolutionary Workers Party, Nagarik Oikya, Ganosamhati Andolan, Rastra Sanskar Andolan, and Bhashani Onusari Parishad were present at the rally.

Gono Odhikar Parishad and the AB Party brought out separate processions in the city.The road communication between Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh was almost snapped as inter-district buses did not operate due to blockades and a lack of passengers.

Visiting Gabtali, Sayedabad, and Moakhali bus terminals, the ticket counters of most of the bus companies were found to be closed.

The few counters that remained open saw the sale of almost no tickets.The inter-district buses were seen parked in the terminal areas, and transport drivers and staffers were passing idle time.

‘We were ready to operate the bus but could not do so till afternoon due to a lack of passengers,’ said Shariful Islam, a ticket seller for Star Line Paribahan at Sayedabad.In the Gabtali bus terminal area, the major terminal for North Bengal-bound buses, long-route buses remained off the streets.

A few inter-district buses that ran between the Dhaka-Manikganj routes carried a handful of passengers.Few buses of Ena Paribahan were seen operating from Moakhali terminal with a poor number of passengers.The launch operations at Sadarghat terminal were also disrupted due to a scarcity of passengers.Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority joint director Alamgir Kabir said a total of 18 launches left the Sadarghat terminal by 5:30 pm, while 51 launches arrived at the terminal.All trains, however, ran on schedule, but the number of passengers was slightly lower compared to regular days, said Masud Sarwar, station master at Kamalapur Railway Station.A relatively low traffic movement was witnessed in Dhaka on Sunday, though the people’s presence increased on the streets compared to the previous spells of blockade.The 48-hour blockade will end this evening.