The police baton-charged and lobbed teargas shells onto 14-party opposition gatherings at some places, with ruling coalition cadres joining in the assault in some other areas, injuring over 150 people.

In the continued arrest frenzy launched across the country on Wednesday, the law enforcement agencies yesterday detained at least 1000 people outside Dhaka, according to The Daily Star correspondents and police sources. In the capital, they have continued raiding houses of opposition men, unit offices of the 14 parties, and bus, launch and railway terminals, and arrested some 1,200 people yesterday.

The Awami League-led opposition camp has arranged the long march to press home its demands including resignation of the alliance government and holding a free, fair and credible election under a reformed caretaker government and Election Commission.

As one of the countermeasures to the opposition showdown culminating at a post-march rally in Paltan Maidan, Dhaka tomorrow, the government has mobilised additional police forces along the long march routes across the country.

However, Bangladesh Police officially denied any government bid to foil the long march or the rally and claimed the countrywide arrests are being made under an anti-crime crackdown.

But, various police sources on condition of anonymity said the government has directed the local and police administration of the districts along and adjacent the long march routes to take strict measurers to hinder opposition workers from marching towards Dhaka.

They said the government also has asked all police officials to conduct a massive manhunt and a blanket arrest to hold back opposition workers and supporters from participating in the February 5 rally in Paltan Maidan.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, a number of police officials in Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur, Manikganj and Comilla admitted to receiving directives from the home ministry not to allow anyone from their respective districts to travel to the capital without showing appropriate reasons.

"We have also been instructed to restrict transport movement," a top police official of Comilla told The Daily Star preferring anonymity.

Meanwhile, protesting the government's clampdown, leaders of the opposition combine yesterday threatened to launch tougher programmes including indefinite hartal. Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina is expected to announce the programmes from the Paltan Maidan rally tomorrow.

The top command of the opposition combine is also planning to announce a countrywide hartal for up to 72 hours from February 7, protesting the mass arrest of opposition leaders and workers, sources said.

The BNP-Jamaat-led coalition government is trying to smother the long march with police attacks, arrests and torture, alleged AL General Secretary and 14-party coordinator Abdul Jalil last night to The Daily Star.

"But the government cannot stifle people's voice by arrests and oppression," he observed and urged the government to give up 'the path'.

MARCH ON PROGRESS
Nine more processions of the opposition long march started from nine points across the country yesterday to join the five main streams in Comilla, Keraniganj, Savar, Tongi and Narsingdi. All the streams of the long march will enter the capital tomorrow.

The Teknaf procession held a rally at Patia in Chittagong at 3:00pm yesterday and will start the march from Alankar intersection towards Comilla via Sitakunda, Mirersarai and Feni. In Comilla, a rally will be held at around 3:00pm and the procession will leave for Dhaka at 10:00am tomorrow.

Another procession will march via Sirajganj, Tangail, Mirzapur and Kaliakoir and hold a rally at Tongi at 4:00pm today.

An opposition procession started from Sonamasjid in Chapainawabganj yesterday morning and held a rally at Natore. The procession will start from Bonpara in Natore today and gather at Sirajganj to join the long march.

Another segment of the long march from Moulvibazar held a rally at Brahmanbaria. It will march via Bhairab, Raipura and Shibpur and hold a rally at Narsingdi at 4:00pm today.

Another procession marched via Kaliganj, Jhenidah, Magura and Madhukhali and held a rally in Faridpur at 4:00pm. The march will reach Savar today and advance towards Dhaka tomorrow.

The Kushtia procession held a rally at Rajbari and will join the Mongla procession at Goalanda today.

A procession from Haluaghat, Mymensingh, will merge with the Tongi rally today. Three separate processions from three sub-routes started from Susangdurgapur, Sherpur and Jamalpur to join the Tongi rally.

Another procession from Barguna held a rally at Madaripur at 4:00pm and will march to Keraniganj in Dhaka via Shariatpur, Zajira and Mawa.

SITUATION IN DHAKA
The 14-party opposition line-up held rallies and took out processions in different areas in the capital to drum up support for tomorrow's showdown.

Dhaka City unit of 14-party combine held a meeting at the Gono Forum office with city coordinator Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya in the chair. The meeting demanded immediate release of opposition leaders and workers arrested in the city as well as elsewhere in the country.

A special extended meeting of the Awami Jubo League (AJL) was held at its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue chaired by AL Joint General Secretary Obaidul Quader. The meeting condemned the police clampdown to foil the long march.

The police charged baton on an AL procession at the city's Shyampur in the evening injuring at least 50 AL workers and arrested 48 others.

DHAKA CMM COURT
A few hundred relatives of the people detained in the city gathered on the premises of the Court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM), Dhaka even in the weekend yesterday, hoping to get their relatives released on bail.

There are no specific cases against many of the arrestees, while some others are now on bail in cases filed earlier against them.

Many detainees were chanting slogans like 'Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu' when a private TV channel was taking shots of them on their way to a court in a police van. The slogans indicate at least one reason for arresting them.

BOGRA
Our Bogra correspondent reports: AL GS Abdul Jalil at a press briefing said many political parties have agreed to join hands with the 14-party alliance in its anti-government movement.

The briefing was held at the local circuit house prior to the meeting held in the district yesterday. He, however, did not mention the names of those parties.

Opposition leaders Abdul Mannan, Asaduzzaman Noor, Bimal Biswas, Saleha Sultana, Mamtaz Uddin, Majibur Rahman Majnu and others were present at the briefing.

Meanwhile, the police seized around 150 motorcycles to prevent them from joining the long march, sources said.

MYMENSINGH
Our correspondent in Mymensingh reports: AL Presidium Member Motia Chowdhury at a rally yesterday said the mass arrests and implicating the opposition leaders and workers in false cases will only fuel the ongoing movement.

AL Organising Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury, AL central leader Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin and other district AL leaders also spoke at the rally.

MOULVIBAZAR
Our Moulvibazar correspondent reports: The 14-party alliance long march from Sylhet division started from Moulvibazar town yesterday noon.

A rally was held at the Central Shaheed Minar in the town before the march started its journey. District AL President Syed Mohsin Ali, Suranjit Sengupta, Sultan Mohammad Monsur Ahmed, Abdur Rahman and Sylhet City Mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran addressed the rally.

BARISAL
Our staff correspondent in Barisal reports: The 14-party alliance long march advanced through Barisal division peacefully yesterday. No untoward incident was reported except that the police arrested three BCL activists in Jhalakathi town.

Meanwhile, our correspondents in different districts reported arrest of hundreds of opposition leaders and activists across the country.

NETRAKONA
Around 50 activists of the 14-party opposition combine were injured as police attacked on a long march procession. The law enforcers also arrested 30 activists in different areas of the district.

The long march procession was foiled in the district as the police had earlier requisitioned around 50 buses and arrested around 10 bus-drivers. The police also barricaded the long march procession at different points in the district.

RAJSHAHI REGION
Our staff correspondent reports from Rajshahi reports: Rajshahi police arrested over 100 people in northern region, including 66 in Rajshahi city on Thursday night.

Thousands of people gathered in Natore yesterday as the 14-party long march from Rajshahi region started for Dhaka amid widespread arrest and police requisition of vehicles.

The law enforcers barricaded the Dhaka Road at some points in the morning and later withdrew the roadblocks.

A large rally was held in Natore. Former information minister Prof Abu Sayeed, Workers Party politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha and others addressed the meeting.

MANIKGANJ
The police arrested 64 opposition workers in different areas of the district on charges of what the law enforcers said "previous complaints".

AL presidium members Tofael Ahmed and Abdur Razzak and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon led the long march in the district.

The procession of thousands of people held rallies at Barguna, Patuakhali, Bakerganj, Rahamatpur, Bhurghata and Madaripur.

ARRESTS ELSEWHERE
In Chittagong: The highest number of over 100 people were arrested in the port city and 56 in Rangamati yesterday.

In Gaibandha: The police arrested at least 22 leaders and activists of AL and its front organisations in seven upazilas of the district on Thursday night. They also set up check posts to prevent vehicles carrying long marchers, alleged a district AL leader.

In Magura: The police arrested 21 persons, including activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Jubo League, in four upazilas on Thursday night. With these arrests, the total number of arrestees in the district rose to 66 in the last couple of days.

In Khagrachhari: At least 40 persons were arrested in seven upazilas of the district although there are no notable workers and leaders of AL among the arrestees. The police have shown them arrested under section 54 of the CrPC to avoid the issue of long march, sources said.

In Noakhali: A total of 47 leaders and workers of the 14-party opposition combine were arrested in different upazilas of the district.

In Pabna: Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of the ruling BNP, attacked an opposition procession at Sujanagar Zero Point, leaving at least 10 injured. The JCD men also abducted an AL activist during the attack.

In Kushtia: The police in separate raids arrested 133 activists of the 14-party combine in Jhenidah and Chuadanga districts on Thursday night.

In Syedpur: The police arrested eight opposition workers and damaged the 14-party podium in the town.

In Jamalpur: At least 15 opposition workers were injured during clash while a joint procession of local BNP, Juba Dal and JCD men attacked the pro-opposition procession Bakshiganj Bus stand. Police fired two rubber bullet shots and arrested three AL supporters.

In Cox's Bazar: The police arrested at least 85 opposition workers from different upazilas of the district until yesterday evening.

In Comilla: At least 20 opposition supporters were arrested from different upazilas until 9:00pm last night.

In Laxmipur: The police arrested at least 20 opposition workers in the district.

In Gazipur: The police raided opposition workers' houses under all the upazila and arrested at least 50 opposition workers.

Besides, the police arrested two BCL leaders in Sarail of Brahamanbaria, 10 in Mirzapur of Tangail, 24 in Munshiganj, six in Khoksha of Kushtia, 27 in Feni, 13 in Joypurhat, 23 in Faridpur, five in Chandpur, nine in Barguna and 60 others in Narayanganj.

UNB adds: AL activists and its front organisations yesterday barricaded the Dhaka-Sherpur Highway for half an hour, protesting hindrance by the local administration ahead of the long march towards Dhaka.

The barricade was withdrawn following a meeting between the AL leaders, police, administration officials and leaders of bus owners.

Local AL leaders alleged that the police and administration officials put pressure on the bus owners not to provide their vehicles for the long march.