Bangladesh police fire rubber bullets, tear gas at new protests
Dhaka, Bangladesh - Dozens were injured on Sunday as Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in a third day of protests sparked by the death of a prominent writer and government critic in jail.
Mushtaq Ahmed (53) collapsed in a high-security prison and died late on Thursday, ten months after being arrested under a ‘digital security’ law that critics say is being used to silence dissent in the country of 168mn people.
Live footage on Sunday from local television station Channel 24 showed a road and footpath in front of the National Press Club - a favourite protest site in Dhaka - turning into a battleground as police beat protesters with batons to disperse them.
Student activists from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) hurled rocks and attacked officers with bamboo and plastic pipes, prompting police to retaliate by ‘firing rubber bullets and tear gas’, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka police Sazzadur Rahman told AFP.
“They did not take any permission (for the protests),” he added, defending the police’s move to clear the protesters.
BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed said about 30 student activists of the party, including a senior leader, were injured in the clashes. Several policemen were also hurt, including an officer who was rushed to hospital.
Ahmed said more than 500 protesters were at the press club, trying to form a human chain.