Tuesday, August 24, 2004
70 injured as violence erupts in strike-hit Bangladesh
Press Trust of India Dhaka, August 24
At least 70 people were injured in violence across Bangladesh where opposition activists went on a rampage, torching government offices and shops during a general strike called by Awami League party to protest the weekend grenade attack that killed 20 people.
Opposition activists went on a rampage during the first hours of the two-day strike torching several government offices, informed a local reporter in southwestern Khulna city by telephone.
"The activists also pelted stones at patrolling police," he said, adding five people were injured in the melee.
Police fired several round of tear gas in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in a brief clash with protestors near the home of Awami League chief and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, leaving five injured.
Three people were injured in Dhaka's Malibagh area when it was bombed, one photographer said.
Train communication was disrupted at several points due to blockade or uprooting of tracks by the protestors, ATN Bangla television reported.
Government offices, shops and a ruling party office were attacked in several other Bangladeshi districts during the strike, where police and agitators clashed.
The nationwide violence left at least 70 people injured, witnesses and television reports said.
Police beat up pickets in the panic-stricken capital Dhaka, where the streets looked deserted except for a few buses and rickshaws.
Prime Minister Zia's cabinet last night condemned the weekend grenade attack on the Awami League rally and resolved that those involved in the "anti-state conspiracy and sabotage" would be identified and punished.
Quoting defence experts, the Prothom Alo Bengali-language daily reported that the grenades used in the attack were made in Austria and were used by Taliban in Afghanistan as well as during the attack on the Indian parliament.
The Daily Star newspaper, in a commentary, said "It (the attack) was an attempt to kill our (Bangladesh) democracy."
"Because of terrorists our democracy stands threatened, our freedom jeopardised and Bangladesh, as we know it on the verge of destruction," it said.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.