Two buses have been set on fire in Chattogram in the early hours of the first day of a three-day nationwide blockade called by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

A bus was torched near the Baluchora Tannery near Bayezid Bostami in the early hours of Tuesday. A bus for transporting garment workers was set on fire near the Sea-Men’s Hostel in the EPZ area this morning, the police said.

The first bus was parked opposite the Hashemi Madrasa gate and was torched by criminals around 3:30 am, said Ferdous Zahan, chief of Bayezid Bostami Police Station.

The second bus was headed from the Saltgola area to the EPZ’s Patenga area when it was attacked, said OC Mohammad Hossein of the EPZ Police Station.

“Two people boarded the bus in the guise of passengers. Once it reached the Sea-Men’s Hostel area, the two set the bus on fire and fled. There were no casualties as the bus was empty.”

The bus driver told police that the two men boarded on the way from Dhupkhola to the EPZ while pretending to be passengers.

Another bus was set on fire on Monday night in the port city’s Dampara area ahead of the blockade.

The BGB is on patrol in Chattogram’s Sitakunda and Mirsarai upazilas to provide security to traffic on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.

The BNP announced a nationwide blockade on road, rail, and river traffic from Tuesday to Thursday after violence surrounding its antigovernment rally in Dhaka on Oct 28. Jamaat-e-Islami, a long-time ally, also declared a similar programme.