DHAKA: At least 92 people, including 13 cops, have been killed, and dozens more injured in a new wave of violence in Bangladesh. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation.
The deaths were reported on Sunday by police and doctors in the capital Dhaka and the northern districts of Bogura, Pabna, and Rangpur, as well as in Magura in the west, Comilla in the east, and Barisal and Feni in the south.
The attack on the police occurred at the Enayetpur police station in Sirajganj, according to Additional Deputy Inspector General Vijay Basak of the Bangladesh police. The identity of the attackers remains unknown.
The demonstrators are calling for Hasina’s resignation after earlier protests in July that started with students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs and escalated into violence that killed 200 people.
Hasina has labeled those involved in the protests as criminals rather than students and urged the public to deal with them harshly. Authorities have blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew, with at least 11,000 people arrested in recent weeks.
Media persons described the situation as “volatile and dangerous.” “The protesters are saying that they are not going to move until their government steps down,” he said. Chowdhury added that the crowd of protesters is growing and clashes between the protesters and supporters of the Awami League have been reported.
Prapti Taposhi, a student activist who witnessed the clashes, told Al Jazeera that police were engaged in running battles with demonstrators. “I am on the street right now, and I can see so many people here. This is not just a student protest or a ‘quota protest,’” she said.
The government has now imposed an indefinite curfew starting at 6 pm local time (1200 GMT), but protesters continue to gather at the Shaheed Minar monument in central Dhaka.
