Dhaka:
A protest more than police enforcement of coronavirus restrictions in rural Bangladesh turned violent late Monday when a mob of demonstrators attacked a police station, with at least 3 men and women shot, police and a medical professional stated.
The incident took spot in the central town of Saltha in Faridpur district, exactly where police stated rumours had spread that a man was injured in a police sweep at a marketplace aimed at enforcing overall health measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, as situations spike nationwide.
Thousands of villagers took to the streets in anger. A group of them hurled bricks at a police station and vandalised government offices in the town, torching an officer’s residence and two vehicles belonging to government officials, police stated.
“Police fired in self-defence after they attacked the police station,” a police spokesman in Faridpur district told AFP. A second police official, inspector Nur-a-Alam Fakir, confirmed the incident.
Police did not give any casualty figures, but Abdul Matin, a medical professional at the emergency ward of the state-run Faridpur Medical College Hospital, stated 3 men and women had been in crucial situation just after suffering gunshot wounds.
“One of them was hit in his buttocks, another in his chest and the third person was shot in both legs,” he told AFP.
Bangladesh on Monday instituted a seven-day nationwide lockdown just after coronavirus case numbers reached record highs and fatalities skyrocketed in current weeks.
On Sunday, at least 7,087 men and women tested positive for the virus, the highest everyday case total because the virus was initially detected in the South Asian nation in March 2020.
All domestic travel services — which includes buses, ferries, trains and flights — have been suspended, and shops and malls will be shut for a week. A nighttime curfew is in impact.
Hundreds of shopkeepers protested in the capital Dhaka more than the lockdown, saying it would disproportionately impact their corporations.
Two officers stated supporters of the hardline Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam joined the attack on the police station at Saltha.
Tens of thousands of Hefazat supporters staged nationwide demonstrations against the check out of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi late final month, which triggered deadly clashes with police.
There was no quick comment from Hefazat more than police claims of their involvement in the incident in Saltha.
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