A policeman kicks a man who violated curfew in Dhaka on Thursday. (AP)

Dhaka, Aug. 23 (Reuters): Bangladesh’s army-backed interim government briefly relaxed a curfew today, allowing residents of the capital the chance to stock up on essentials and those stranded at airports and elsewhere to return home.

The home ministry ordered the curfew, imposed yesterday to end days of violence, to be relaxed for three hours from 1000 GMT.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka’s usually bustling streets were largely deserted with the exception of troop carriers. Curious onlookers and pedestrians were forced into narrow alleys, as the curfew was strictly enforced.

Hundreds of people thronged markets in the capital during the break in the curfew. “I rushed to the market to buy food first because we don’t know when the curfew will be relaxed,” said Shameem Ara Begum, a bank worker, at the Shantinagar Bazar.

Students, who had been ordered to leave universities at short notice yesterday night, packed buses, trains and ferries out of the city.

“I halted at my uncle’s house last night after authorities asked us to vacate dormitories. Now I am taking a chance to leave for my village,” said Murshed Ali, a student at Dhaka University.

Cellphone networks and Internet connections were blocked during the day.

The information ministry told journalists to collect curfew passes from police, reversing an earlier stance that job identity cards would be enough to secure safe movement.

“All these steps suggest the curfew is going to last for days, if not weeks,” said another official, himself rushing to procure a curfew pass.

One man was killed and nearly 300 people injured in clashes between police and students, joined by some members of the public, in Dhaka and elsewhere over the last three days before the curfew was imposed in the capital and five other main cities.

The trouble — which analysts said had shaken the government but did not appear to pose a serious immediate threat to it — started on Monday night. “They are not in any danger of falling,” said Asif Nazrul, a legal expert at Dhaka University. Bangladesh has repeatedly suffered crippling strikes and unrest over the last two years.

The latest violence was triggered by a troop assault on students after they protested the presence of soldiers at a football match at Dhaka University’s gymnasium compound. Troops had been based in the complex since January when a military-backed interim administration took power following months of political violence.