A one-day opposition called strike in Bangladesh closed schools and shops in Dhaka and other major cities Saturday.
Police arrested about 50 protesters, most of them women, who tried to break through a security barricade in Dhaka's Dhanamandi area, home of Bangladesh's main opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
The strike was called by her Awami league to protest growing lawlessness in the country, last month's rise in electricity rates and the alleged persecution of minority party members. Streets in Dhaka and other major cities were mostly deserted.
There were no injuries, but Bangladesh television showed pictures of three vehicles set on fire by the protesters. Unidentified gunmen on Friday shot and killed an Awami League activist in Khulna, the country's southeastern industrial hub. The French News Agency said the dead man, Tashar Hasan, was wanted for alleged past criminal activity.