Arsonists set fire to 263 vehicles across the country during the shutdowns and transport blockades called by the BNP following its violent antigovernment rally on Oct 28.

Buses accounted for the majority of torched vehicles at 162, the Fire Service and Civil Defence Department said on Friday.

The burnt vehicles also include 44 trucks, 23 covered vans, eight motorcycles and 26 other cars.

Fifteen structures were also damaged and an ambulance was vandalised over the last 40 days, said Shahjahan Shikder, a fire service spokesman.

The most recent incident of vehicular arson occurred on Thursday when a bus owned by Taranga Plus was set ablaze in front of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

Ahead of the Jan 7 national elections, the BNP, the largest opposition group in the country, and Jamaat-e-Islami have reverted to their decades-old tactic of enforcing hartals and blockades. The protest programmes were initiated after the police cracked down on the BNP's rally in Dhaka to press for the removal of the government, prompting deadly clashes.