Hundreds of police had taken to the streets of Dhaka late Wednesday after a policeman died and seven other cops were injured in a series of bomb blasts, allegedly triggered by pro-opposition demonstrators.

A businessman, requesting anonymity, told Reuters, ``I saw about 200 policemen coming out of police barracks at Mirpur and they damaged at least 15 vehicles.'' Police and Home Ministry officials, however, declined to comment on the alleged rampage by the police personnel.

According to a police spokesman, ``about 15 to 20 blasts occurred in a matter of a few minutes''. Home-made devices were used in the bombs, he added.

No arrests have been made so far, he said. Meanwhile, hospital sources informed that three of the seven wounded policemen were inserious condition.

An alliance of four major opposition parties in Bangladesh, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), called for an anti-government general strike to protest what they called an ``anti-people budget'' passed in parliament last week and other concerns, including deteriorating law and order and rising prices.

Paramilitary forces and additional police personnel on Thursday reinforced security in Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong.

Meanwhile, schools, shops, factories and private offices across Bangladesh remained closed. Government offices were to work with minimum staff while banks decided to close ahead of the weekend. While the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges remained closed, airport officials said some flights would be cancelled or rescheduled. The Chittagong Port was idle for a second consecutive day after a local strike halted delivery of goods and cargo handling on Wednesday.

Newspaper reports spoke of large scale damage done by outraged demonstrators of theopposition parties.Doctors at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital said that they had treated about ten people injured in the demonstrations. Ten others were injured in the southeastern town of Cox's Bazar in a clash between strike supporters and opponents, officials said.