DHAKA - Millions of Bangladeshis were stranded on Sunday as opposition parties enforced a countrywide transport shutdown amid tight security and scattered violence, police and witnesses said. They said buses, trains and ferries were mostly idle as hundreds of opposition leaders and activists blockaded terminals in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere across the country.At least 20 people were injured in clashes between opposition and pro-government activists in the southern coastal town of Barisal, 300 km (190 miles) from Dhaka, witnesses said.
Authorities deployed more than 8,000 extra police and paramilitary troops in the capital, and more in other cities, trying to avert violence and damage to property.
A 14-party alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, chief of the opposition Awami League, called the shutdown in an attempt to force the government to implement electoral reforms before a general election due next January.