Strikers have set fire to a lorry in Dhaka's Gendaria on the first morning of a two-day Jamaat-e-Islami strike called in protest against the death verdict of the party's leader ATM Azharul Islam

Apart from this act of arson, no other untoward incident was reported from the capital in the first two hours of the shutdown on Wednesday.

Private vehicles generally kept off the road but public transport was running as usual.

Long-distance bus services, however, had however been suspended by transport operators because of security concerns while train and launch services were operational.

The countrywide strike was announced minutes after Bangladesh's first war crimes tribunal found the Jamaat assistant secretary general guilty of genocide, murder and rape on Tuesday. Consequently, the New Year will begin with a strike on Thursday.

A group of youths set the lorry ablaze around 7am on Wednesday near Gendaria Railway's Ghuntighar. No one was hurt in the incident.

Fire Service control room acting operator Brazen Kumar Sarkar said two fire units rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.

Police officials across the capital said they had not seen any strike demonstrations around Bangshal, Jatrabari, Kotwali, Shahbag and Adabar areas.

Law enforcements have been deployed at different key points of the city to prevent any untoward incident during the strike.

Party's acting chief Maqbool Ahmed dubbed Azhar's verdict "perverse" and said Azhar had been "denied justice".