Clashes spread as blockade paralyses Bangladesh
DHAKA, Jan 8 (Agencies): At least 50 people were injured and 30 detained in renewed clashes between police and activists on Monday as a blockade aimed at derailing parliamentary elections paralysed much of the Bangladesh for a second day.
Clashes erupted at a dozen spots, including around the headquarters of the Awami League, led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in the capital Dhaka.
Protesters set ablaze and damaged several vehicles and fought battles with police across the city and its outskirts, witnesses said.
Police used batons and teargas to disperse stone-throwing supporters of Hasina's multi-party alliance, which is boycotting the Jan.
About 70 people including police were injured on Sunday, the first day of the three-day blockade.
The alliance called for the blockades in protest at what it sees as the interim government's inability to hold a free and fair vote.
It says caretaker President Iajuddin Ahmed favours Hasina's rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, in the polls.
The alliance, which has threatened to block access to the presidential palace on Tuesday, wants Iajuddin to resign but he has refused.
On Monday, buses and lorries did not operate, deliveries from the ports were suspended and most businesses and educational institutions were closed.
Railway and ferry services were also disrupted.
Some taxis and rickshaws were operating within the capital Dhaka but alliance activists manned strategic points to prevent vehicles entering and leaving the city, they added.
and European diplomats have expressed concern that Bangladesh is heading into a period of serious political instability.
An Iajuddin adviser said late on Sunday the interim government would consult rival parties in a last-minute effort to find a solution to the political stalemate, raising some hope of an end to the impoverished country's long-running political woes.
But analysts have said the only way out would be to postpone elections, which Hasina has demanded but Khaleda has opposed.
At least 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes between political rivals since Khaleda ended her five-year tenure as prime minister in late October and handed power to the interim authority.
Hasina and her allies want election officials "biased towards Khaleda" to be removed, a new election schedule and an overhaul of the list of registered voters.
On Saturday, police banned rallies, blockades and other protests to try to maintain order in the run-up to the vote, warning offenders that they would be dealt with severely.
The alliance ignored the ban.