( CNN ) -- More than 160 protesters were arrested Sunday during a violent opposition strike in Bangladesh , police said . Among those held were at least five leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) . Officers said they provoked the strikers to damage public property . Security forces used tear gas and batons in some areas to break up unruly demonstrations , Police Commissioner A.K.M Shahidul Hoque told CNN by phone from Dhaka , the Bangladeshi capital . About 18 officers were injured when protesters pelted them with stones , he said . But Hoque claimed the 12-hour shutdown had little impact on attendance in government offices . In addition , rail , river and air traffic was normal , although private long-route transport mostly stayed off the road , he said . In Dhaka , between 1,000 and 1,500 activists held demonstrations in small groups , Hoque said . The largest protest in the city numbered about 300 strikers , he added . Iqbal Khan Chowdhury , additional home secretary for Bangladesh , told CNN that road traffic in the city of Dhaka was relatively less . `` Traffic on the road was not like other days , '' he remarked . Protests were also reported from some other divisional headquarters of the country outside Dhaka , he said . The opposition BNP called Sunday 's general strike , the first in Bangladesh in over three years , to protest against the governance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina . The BNP accuses her government of failure in dealing with corruption and of suppressing opposition voices . BNP leader Fakarul Islam Alamgir alleged security forces were aggressive on Sunday in dealing with demonstrators . Chowdhury denied the charges , saying police were duty-bound to maintain public order . In the meantime , the BNP 's Alamgir said his party would hold a public meeting Monday in Dhaka as a mark of protest . Hasina 's Awami League party-led alliance swept Bangladesh elections in December 2008 in a landslide . She took the oath of office in January 2009 .
5 leaders of Congress party among those held . Police used tear gas , batons to break up demonstrations . Protests also came from outside Mumbai .