Activists and police clashed in Bangladesh yesterday, injuring at least 50 people at the start of a three-day transport blockade aimed at derailing upcoming elections. Witnesses said police were also injured in the clashes in Shyamoli, a residential area of the capital, Dhaka.

Police used teargas and rubber bullets against stone-throwing, stick-wielding activists of a multi-party alliance that has boycotted general elections due on January 22. They have vowed to scuttle the latest stoppage but by early afternoon it had largely taken hold and there was little traffic on the roads in many areas. Police detained about 30 people in Shyamoli and other city areas where protesters scuffled with police as they pushed through barricades, witnesses said.

On Saturday, police banned rallies, blockades and other protests to try to maintain order in the run-up to the vote, promising that offenders would be dealt with strictly. But the alliance led by former Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, vowed to go ahead with the transport shutdown. The country?s long-running political crisis deepened further on Wednesday when Hasina?s alliance announced it would boycott the election, accusing the interim government charged with organizing the polls of favoring her opponents. The Jatiya Party of former army ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad and the Liberal Democratic Party led by former president A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury also decided to boycott the election.

Rail officials said protesters stopped trains at major junctions. At Savar, 25 km from the capital, protesters attacked vehicles trying to ignore the blockade. Deliveries from the main seaport at Chittagong and at several land ports connecting India and Myanmar were also suspended. The alliance said the blockade was aimed at forcing President Lajuddin Ahmed to step down as head of the interim government and force the election commission to announce new poll schedules. Hasina accuses Lajuddin of favoring her rival Begum Khaleda Zia in the coming polls. Lajuddin, in a statement late on Saturday, said there was no way he or the election commission would delay the ballot because of constitutional constraints.

Fears of more violence

Troops began patrolling Dhaka?s streets on Saturday while paramilitary soldiers and elite Rapid Action Battalion members fanned out across the country to try to foil the blockade. The Awami League announced a plan to block access to the presidential palace on Tuesday, raising fears of more violence.

At least 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes between supporters of Sheikh Hasina and those of her rival, immediate past Prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Anis AHMED