The police forced shopkeepers to keep their shutters down, entered houses and beat up 10 people including two women. They arrested nine people.

Local administration yesterday slapped a fresh ban on all kinds of gatherings in 17-kilometre area for an indefinite period after Sunday's ban in 5-kiloemtere area ended at 8:00am yesterday.

Defying the section 144, the protesters brought out a procession carrying sticks and damaged a culvert at Takshaldighi on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid road as Palli Bidyut Unnayan Sangram Parishad (PBUSP) agitated through the whole day to realise its 14-point charter of demands.

The police and Bangladesh Rifles deployed there on Sunday tried to quell the violent protests. They fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the mob when it attacked the police with brickbats protesting Thursday's skirmishes that claimed four lives. The protesters said they will continue the hartal until their demands are met.

A curfew-like situation prevails in the area.

HOURS OF TENSION
As the Sangram Parishad activists were gathering at different points around Kansat in the morning yesterday, the police forced shopkeepers at Kansat to close their shops around 9:30am.

They beat up a man named Mofiz of Shukur's shop and another man Nasurul who works at Anu's shop, for delaying to pull down their shutters.

The local administration declared a fresh imposition of section 144 around 10:00am banning any gathering in 17-kilometre area from Bekipara intersection to Sonamasjid Land Port.

Earlier, the administration had imposed section 144 on Sunday on 5-kilometre area from Bekipara intersection to Kansat.

As the declaration of the ban was being made on loudspeakers the policemen in riot gears started marching slowly towards Sonamasjid. Reaching Dhobrabazar, where the pickets put up a barricade with large logs as part of their hartal, the police removed the barricade.

Few hundred of Sangram Parishad men armed with spears, sticks, spades, axes and large knives chased the police defying the section 144.

As the police retreated, the pickets lied down on the road and put up barricades there again.

A group of protesters, meanwhile, damaged a culvert at Takshaldighi on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid Land Port road to obstruct movement of police vehicles.

While the policemen were marching towards Sonamasjid, the protesters made announcements through bullhorns from different mosques and rickshaws, asking the local residents to join a stick procession at 3:00pm and to defy the 'unjust section144'.

A few thousand protesters including women and children brought out a stick procession from Mahilabazar and went to Kansatbazar at 5:00pm.

Reaching within 500 yards of the policemen deployed there, the protesters demanded withdrawal of the police.

"We don't want any police here", "we don't want to see police rule here", "no curfew here" and "we are citizens of this country, we don't need police" were the most chanted slogans in the procession led by Joynul Abedin, PBUSP joint convener.

After the procession, about 500 police and BDR personnel attempted to go to Dhobrabazar removing the barricades at Dhobpukur. They, however, retreated when several hundred protesters armed with sticks chased them.

The police this time entered the houses next to the road and threatened people not to come out of their houses. As the police and BDR men were going back to Kansat, the protesters followed them, chanting slogans accusing local lawmaker Shahjahan Mia for the killings and attacks on the local residents since January 4.

When a bicyclist was passing by the police, they charged batons on him, sparking a protest.

The protesters hurled brickbats at the policemen, prompting the police to retaliate.

The police lobbed 20 tear gas canisters and fired at least 50 rubber bullets to disperse them.

Different groups of protesters made guerrilla style attacks on the deployed policemen at different points.

When the policemen were returning to Kansat, the protesters vandalised two trucks, as many pick-ups and a microbus near a filling station at Kansatbazar.

The police entered different houses at Kansatbazar around 7:00pm and charged batons on the residents, injuring at least 10 including two women.

The protesters kept bringing out small processions at different parts in the area since the morning. The chase and counter-chase continued till 5:30pm.

"All the attacks on the locals are being made based on the tips from the local MP," Sangram Parishad convener Golam Rabbani told The Daily Star, reiterating his vow to continue the hartal until their demands are met.