DHAKA: Witnesses and the police reported that hundreds of opposition supporters were detained as a result of police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at them on Wednesday in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. As a result, at least one person died and scores were injured.
After the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), called a large rally on Saturday to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign, tensions have been rising this week.
According to opposition spokesperson Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, on Wednesday, approximately 5,000 peaceful opposition supporters gathered outside the BNP’s main office in central Dhaka.
We let the traffic move. However, police suddenly came after us and opened fire on our activists and supporters. Annie stated, “At least 100 people were injured.” The BNP said something like two of their activists, including an understudy chief, were killed by police fire.
It appeared that injured party activists were lying on the office stairs in live footage that was shared on BNP’s verified Facebook page but could not be independently verified.
According to Abdul Hye, a Dhaka Medical College Hospital-based police constable, the hospital received one body and at least eight injured individuals. Whether the body was struck by live or rubber bullets was unknown to him.
Faruq Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, attributed the disturbances to the BNP, claiming that party activists attacked law enforcement officers with rocks and Molotov cocktails as they attempted to clear roads for traffic. We shot elastic slugs and poisonous gas to clear individuals from the street,” he said. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the current head of the BNP, stated, “Police arrested at least 500 activists from inside the party headquarters.” He told reporters, “This is a violation of human rights and the constitution.”
While being driven away in prison vans, the activists chanted slogans disparaging Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina: It will crumble! With God’s help, the Hasina regime will end.
After BNP officials expressed concerns that the police might use violence to thwart Saturday’s rally, which the party anticipates will draw hundreds of thousands of attendees, the fighting broke out.
Another party spokesperson, Rizvi Ahmed, stated that at least 1,430 BNP supporters and activists had been detained since November 30 in an effort to prevent the rally from taking place. The BNP wants Hasina to step down and for a temporary government to take over until new elections are held.
