The activists were arrested over the weekend in capital Dhaka, police said today.

Thousands of security personnel were deployed to ward off any violence during the shutdown which coincided with nationwide rallies of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party against "anarchy".

Both sides ignored calls to reschedule their plans to avoid possible violence.

Up to 11,000 security personnel would guard the city of more than 12 million until the strike ends Tuesday evening, reports here said. Schools, shops and most private offices were shut or operated with skeleton staff. Some buses and taxis along with a large number of rickshaws were operating.

There was, however, no reports of violence during the first hours of the strike, but small groups of opposition activists were picketed, police and witnesses said.

Besides the main opposition Awami League, left wing parties which backed the strike also staged brief rallies before being dispersed by baton-wielding police.

The new round of two days of non-stop general strike has been called just after six similar shutdowns was enforced since last month to protest the grenade attack on a rally of Awami League and police actions during previous strikes.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday called on all concerned, including the opposition, to refrain from "destroying democratic environment and trampling human rights in the name of movement and demonstrations."

"Strike is a destructive action against national interest and economy," she was quoted as saying by news agencies at a meeting with members of the private Council for National Agenda.

Business bodies have also appealed against strikes, which the government says has cost the nation millions of dollars in lost production.

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