At least three people were killed and over 200 injured as radical Islamists of Hefajat-e Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami jointly clashed with the police at the capital during the Dhaka Siege programme by the Islamists on Sunday.
Police authorities said, scores of policemen were injured in the fierce battle that ensued when the law enforcers fired hundreds of rubber bullets and tear gas shells to. Scores of journalists were injured and beaten up by Hefazat and Jamaat men .
At least 50 people, most of them hit by rubber bullet, were admitted to the Dhaka medical College Hospital.
ADVERTISEMENT
Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam warned of tough action against Hefazat, askingit to leave the capital by Sunday evening. But Hefazat leaders defied his calls.
Earlier, as part of their pre-announced agitation, thousands of Hefazat activists seized the capital city, blocking all roads isolating Dhaka from rest of the country. Brandishing sticks, they took up position on several entry points to Dhaka to enforce their proposed blockade after Fajr prayers, raising slogans in support of their 13 demands, many of which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says have already been met.
Hefazat has encountered stiff opposition from women’s groups ever since it opposed the National Women’s policy. Leading women’s groups in the country have announced a grand rally in Dhaka on May 9.
ADVERTISEMENT