DHAKA: The dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal called by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is underway peacefully in the capital with no major untoward incident reported.

The party is observing the shutdown on Thursday protesting the arrest and remand of its top leaders, including the ameer, secretary general and nayeb-e-ameer.

The hartal began at 6am and will end at 6pm. The party declared the hartal in the statement on Tuesday.

Vehicular movement is seen normal in the capital. Most of the shops, business organizations and educational institutions remain open.

Office-goers were seen heading towards their destinations by buses and other public vehicles.

Law enforcers have been deployed at all key points of the capital.

Nine of its members, including Ameer Maqbul Ahmad, Nayeb-e-ameer Mia Ghulam Parwar, Secretary General Dr Shafiqur Rahman and Chittagong Metropolitan Ameer Mawlana Shahjahan were arrested from a residence in Uttara of the city.

A Dhaka court on Tuesday placed eight of the arrestees to remand for a total of 10 days in cases filed under the Special Act and Explosives Act.

BDST: 1332 HRS, OCT 12, 2017
SMS/