18-Party to strike nation down for 36 hours

The BNP along with its allies has called a 36-hour shutdown beginning from Tuesday minutes after a Dhaka court refused bail to seven of its top leaders.

The 18-Party’s general strike aims to put pressure on the government to free the senior leaders and withdraw cases against them.The party’s Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain made the announcement on Sunday at a press briefing at the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office.

Earlier in the day, Moudud Ahmed, Barkatullah Bulu and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie won bail from a Dhaka court.

But Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and six other leaders were denied bail.