DHAKA: A 48-hour hartal, called by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami protesting its two leaders’ death penalty, has begun from Wednesday morning.

However, the fresh shutdown, beginning from 6:00am, will end on 6:00am Friday.

Sources told banglanews that Jamaat declared the hartal on Monday.

However, as another shutdown was announced earlier by the same party for Thursday, the strike, ultimately, transformed to a 48-hour hartal, sources added.

The Sunday’s hartal was declared protesting Supreme Court verdict upholding death penalty to Jamaat assistant secretary general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman while the Thursday’s to protest the party financer Mir Quasem Ali’s death sentence.

Earlier, a 60-hour countrywide shutdown, which was marked in two phases, protesting the death sentence of Jamaat Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami for his war crimes, ended on Monday evening.

On the other hand, security measures have been tightened across the country including Dhaka ahead of the hartal.

According to the sources, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel have also been deployed to avert any untoward situation during the strike.

Nevertheless, Khulna city is out of purview of the hartal for the second test cricket match between Bangladesh and visiting Zimbabwe.

BDST: 0855 HRS, NOV 05, 2014