Inqilab Mancha withdraws Shahbagh blockade, urges students to gather again at 2pm Monday
Protesters left the the Shahbagh area around 10pm
Inqilab Mancha has announced the withdrawal of its blockade at Shahbagh intersection in the capital, while calling on students from across the country to gather again at Shahbagh at 2pm tomorrow (Monday, 29 December), demanding justice for its spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi's murder.
Protesters left the the Shahbagh area around 10pm today (28 December) after the platform's Member Secretary Abdullah Al Jaber made the announcement.
Abdullah Al Jaber urged students from all universities, Qawmi and Alia madrasas, as well as schools and colleges, along with freedom-loving citizens, to assemble at Shahbagh at 2pm tomorrow.
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He said the movement would continue until justice is ensured, warning that the struggle would become increasingly stringent.
Earlier, activists of Inqilab Mancha returned to the Shahbagh intersection this morning (28 December), resuming their blockade to demand the immediate arrest and trial of those involved in the killing of Hadi.
While the "all-out blockade" was officially scheduled to begin at 2pm today, protesters began gathering as early as 11am.
The group had also extended the movement beyond the capital, calling for similar blockades in all divisional cities across the country, starting this afternoon in an announcement made yesterday.
Outside the capital, protests disrupted traffic in several key areas. In Chattogram, leaders and activists of Inqilab Mancha blocked the entry point of the Shah Amanat Bridge, causing severe traffic congestion on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway.
In Narayanganj, students and local residents blocked the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at the Signboard area from 3:30pm to 4:30pm, leading to heavy congestion on both lanes.
Meanwhile, traffic movement in Gazipur remained suspended for nearly three hours as activists blocked roads at Gazipur Chourasta and Tongi College Gate areas.
Later in the day, Inqilab Mancha requested activists that the ongoing blockade programme in all divisional cities outside Dhaka be concluded by 8pm today.
Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent figure of the July Uprising and an aspiring independent candidate for the upcoming elections, was shot in the head in the capital's Paltan area on 12 December.
After receiving treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Evercare Hospital, he was airlifted to Singapore, where he died on 18 December.
