RANGPUR: The 48-hour hartals, enforced separately by Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, are underway in 16 districts of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions from Wednesday morning. 

The general strike began at 6am on Wednesday and will end at 6am on Friday.

Jamaat is observing the shutdown in Rangpur division protesting the forced disappearance of three Jamaat-e-Islami men, including Mithapukur upazila Ameer.

Jamaat metropolitan unit publicity and office secretary Rabiul Islam Tuesday night confirmed the matter through a press release.

The release said a group of law enforcers picked up Mithapukur upazila Jamaat leader Alamin, his wife Beauty Begum and a female member of the party Mousumi Begum on January 14 and still there is no trace of them.

Moreover, the party announced the hartal protesting the arrests of leaders and activists, harassment, filing false cases against them and demanded of unconditional release of the party people.

Shibir called separate hartals in Rajshahi protesting the killing of a Chapainawabganj unit leader by ‘Rapid Action Battalion (Rab)’.

Asaduzzaman, publicity secretary of Rajshahi city Shibir, confirmed the shutdown.

Some RAB members arrested Asadullah Tuhin, a second year student of HSC and president of Chapainawabganj City College unit Chhatra Shibir, on Monday afternoon.

He was killed as a truck rammed him at Lalapara in Sadar upazila of the district on early Tuesday while he was trying to escape from RAB on their way to conduct a drive to recover cocktails.

BDST: 0835 HRS, JAN 28, 2015