The 12-hour shutdown from 6:00am, the second in four days, follows a similar one on Thursday.

The 14-party leaders at a meeting at the AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue yesterday urged the people to make the hartal a success.

Talking to newsmen later, AL presidium member Abdur Razzak MP said they would picket at 18 different points in the capital during the hartal.

These include Noor Hossain Square, Russel Square, Dhanmondi Road-27, Mirpur-10 roundabout, Pallabi cinema hall, Tikatuli truck stand, Malibagh Biponi Bitan, Sabujbagh Biswa Road, Farmgate, Fakirerpool, Jatrabari, Posta, Mohakhali and Nabisco intersections, Kamrangir Char, Kuril Biswa Road, Azampur bus stand, Kazi Alauddin Road, Sayedabad bus terminal and Jurain rail crossing.

Razzak also warned the BNP-Jamaat alliance government that it would be entirely responsible for the consequences if it tries to obstruct observance of the hartal or torture opposition activists and supporters.

Hospitals, drug stores, fire brigade, food shops, vehicles of journalists and ambulances will remain out of the purview of the hartal.

Yesterday, the AL and its allies and their front organisations took out processions in the city under tight police vigilance to drum up support for the shutdown.

Meanwhile, the government has taken adequate measures to maintain law and order during the hartal hours. Around 7,000 police, BDR and Ansar personnel will be deployed in the capital to avert any untoward incidents.