"We have come to know that the BNP secretary general has made a request to withdraw the hartal in view of the floods in most areas of the country. But we have already kept the flood-affected districts out of the purview of the hartal", AL Joint Secretary General Obaidul Kader told The Daily Star.

He recalled that during the 1998 floods, the AL government had made a similar request to the then opposition BNP which ignored it.

On July 17, the AL Central Working Committee called the 12-hour shutdown to protest the killing of Tongi Jubo League leader Sumon Ahmed Majumder allegedly by torture by Rab (Rapid Action Battalion) men.

Sumon was a key witness to the murder of AL lawmaker Ahsanullah Master.

The AL alleges that Rab men killed Sumon as part of a government plan to eliminate witnesses to the murder of the lawmaker. It also demanded a judicial probe into the 'killing' of Sumon.

Leader of the Opposition and AL President Sheikh Hasina will address a public rally at Tongi tomorrow in protest against the 'killing'.