Six killed in Bangladesh in violence over war crime trial
1 Feb 2013 6:53 AM IST
Violence gripped Bangladesh on Thursday as activists of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami clashed with police, leaving six people, including a constable, dead and several others injured, during a nationwide strike called to protest the 1971 war crimes trials.
The nationwide general strike was enforced by the Jamaat- e-Islami and backed by main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to halt an ongoing trial of their top leaders for 1971 war crimes charges.
Police said four people were killed in northwestern Bogra alone in clashes between pro-government and JI activists, while the town, said to be an opposition stronghold, also saw riot police using rubber bullets and tear gas.
‘The four died within hours in the afternoon... Jamaat activists are still fighting with law enforcement agencies,’ a senior police officer of Bogra told PTI by phone.
A local journalist said the four dead were suspected to be JI workers. Two of them died on the outskirts of the town as they exchanged gunshots with police and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Deputy commissioner or administrative chief of Bogra Sarwar Hossain said paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was kept on standby to be called out anytime.
The nationwide general strike was enforced by the Jamaat- e-Islami and backed by main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to halt an ongoing trial of their top leaders for 1971 war crimes charges.
Police said four people were killed in northwestern Bogra alone in clashes between pro-government and JI activists, while the town, said to be an opposition stronghold, also saw riot police using rubber bullets and tear gas.
‘The four died within hours in the afternoon... Jamaat activists are still fighting with law enforcement agencies,’ a senior police officer of Bogra told PTI by phone.
A local journalist said the four dead were suspected to be JI workers. Two of them died on the outskirts of the town as they exchanged gunshots with police and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
Deputy commissioner or administrative chief of Bogra Sarwar Hossain said paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was kept on standby to be called out anytime.
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