Over 160 people were arrested and curfew extended on Friday in Gopalganj, the home town of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, even as the death toll in Wednesday's violence rose to five.
According to police, 164 people were arrested and a manhunt is underway for hundreds others with even Navy and Coast Guard men in boats patrolling rivers and canals to nab the suspects involved in the violence in Gopalganj, about 160 kilometres southwest of Dhaka.
Four people were killed in clashes over a National Citizen Party (NCP) rally, which turned into a virtual battlefield as hundreds of supporters of Rahman's daughter and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina clashed with police, ahead of the planned march of the student-led party.
“The local hospital referred the critically injured bullet-hit Ramjan Munsi to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he died today,” an editor of a local newspaper said, requesting anonymity.
Police confirmed that the arrested and scores of unnamed others were accused of allegedly attacking and setting a police vehicle on fire and physically assaulting several officers on Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Army, in a statement, said it used force in self-defence during Wednesday's clashes in Gopalganj after coming under attack from “a group of unruly people.” The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said a group of people carried out “organised acts of violence” in Gopalganj Sadar centring on a public rally called as part of a political party's month-long programme.
“The initial wave of violence left several police personnel and journalists injured, while government vehicles and public establishments were vandalised and set on fire,” the statement said.
“As the situation quickly escalated, both the Bangladesh Army and local police intervened and were able to bring the situation under control,” the ISPR said.
Meanwhile, the curfew that was originally for 22 hours since Wednesday evening, was extended till Saturday 6 am, police added.
People reached over by phone said a sense of fright gripped residents as authorities called out additional troops of paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard to enforce a vigil throughout the district alongside army and riot police.
“People are forced to stay indoors and businesses and offices were shut on the second day as the security forces enforced a curfew since Wednesday. It was relaxed briefly allowing Muslims to offer their Friday (Jumma) prayers,” a junior government official said.
He added that the military, using megaphones, asked people to remain inside their homes as they patrolled in armoured personnel carriers (APCs) the streets in Gopalganj district headquarters and also at the sub-districts' headquarters.
The Daily Star newspaper quoted at least four chairpersons of union parishads, the lowest local government tier, to report that many residents fled the area as the law enforcement agencies launched the crackdown.
Earlier on Thursday, military troops, paramilitary forces and riot police patrolled the thoroughfares in Gopalganj to ensure the curfew.
NCP is an offshoot of Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group leading the violent protests that toppled Hasina’s regime on August 5, 2024. Three days later, Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of the interim government.
On Wednesday, despite the hurdles, the NCP managed to proceed with the rally on the vandalised stage with broken sound systems, chaired by its convenor Nahid Islam in Gopalganj, which is a stronghold of Hasina's Awami League.
Yunus’s office earlier issued a strong statement calling the attempt to prevent the NCP rally “absolutely inexcusable” and promised that those responsible would be held accountable.
“Let it be made clear... Violence has no place in our nation. Justice must and will prevail,” the government said and also criticised attempts to obstruct young citizens from peacefully commemorating their movement, describing it as a “shameful violation” of their fundamental rights.
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year. PTI AR NPK NPK
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