DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing crowds blockading major roads in the capital Dhaka yesterday in the latest protest demanding the prime minister’s resignation.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have staged a series of protests since last year demanding Sheikh Hasina step down and allow a caretaker government to oversee elections due next January.
Clashes erupted in several locations when police moved in to clear thousands of people who gathered in the morning to block traffic on key arterials around the city.
“Some officers were injured,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed told AFP.
“We fired tear gas and rubber bullets.”
At least four protest sites around the city saw clashes between police and protesters, Ahmed said.
AFP journalists at one protest site in Dholaikhal, an old neighbourhood now a hub for automotive repair shops, witnessed protesters retaliate by throwing rocks at riot police and their vehicles. Police inspector at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital Bacchu Mia told AFP that six protesters had been admitted to the hospital with injuries.
Senior BNP leaders Goyeshwar Roy and Amanullah Aman had been taken into police custody but had not been formally arrested, Ahmed said. Transport links between the capital and other parts of the country were badly disrupted, with trucks and buses stuck in gridlock.
Protests led by the BNP have become increasingly common since the start of the year, with rallies this month drawing tens of thousands of people to the streets.
Police arrested at least 500 opposition activists ahead of a rally outside the party’s headquarters this week.
