At least 92 people, including 14 policemen, demonstrators, and political activists, were killed in clashes amongst protesters, members of law-enforcing agencies, and activists of ruling Awami League across the country on the first day of the students’ all-out non-cooperation programme demanding resignation of the government.
Of the victims, the highest 22 people, including 13 policemen, were killed in Sirajganj districts, 11 in Dhaka, eight each in Feni and Lakshmipur districts, six in Narsingdi, five in Rangpur, four in Magura, three each in Pabna, Munshiganj, Kishoreganj, Sylhet, Sherpur, Bogura, and Cumilla, two in Jaipurhat, and one each in Barishal, Habiganj, Cox’s Bazar, and Bhola.
Police headquarters assistant inspector general of police Enamul Haque Sagar said in a statement that at least 13 policemen were killed in an attack on the Enayetpur police station in Sirajganj.
He also said that another policeman was killed in Cumilla district, while many police stations and other offices or camps came under attack in places on the day.
The protestors gathered at different important points in almost every district and upazila in the county while the leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and its associate bodies have come to the streets, many carrying firearms, as part of their pre-announced counter programme.
As the AL people remained engaged in confrontation with protesters in many places, the prime minister and president of the AL, Sheikh Hasina, following a meeting of the National Committee on Security Affairs, the highest policy-making authority of national security, at her official Ganabhaban residence, asked the people of the country to curb anarchists with iron hands.
“No one of those who are now carrying out violence is a student. They are terrorists,” PM’s assistant press secretary, ABM Sarwer-E-Alam Sarker, said, quoting her as saying.
Amid clashes and anarchies, the home ministry announced a curfew for an indefinite period in Dhaka, all divisional cities, district towns, upazila headquarters, city corporation areas, municipalities, and industrial areas, starting at 6:00pm on Sunday.
The government earlier imposed a curfew for an indefinite period past midnight on July 19, which was relaxed from time to time. It was enforced only in selected areas in the past few days.
After the clashes on Sunday turned deadly, the government also declared a three-day public holiday across the country starting on Monday.
On Sunday, users complained that they had not gotten access to the Meta platforms Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, mostly on mobile phones, since afternoon.
The state minister for information and broadcasting, Mohammad Ali Arafat, told reporters on Sunday that social media platforms were blocked temporarily in the country to prevent rumours from spreading.
The government also urged all students and their guardians to return home and stay safe, saying that extremist attacks were taking place in different places across the country.
‘Extremist attacks are taking place in various places. Strict action will be taken against the attackers,’ said a government handout.
Sunday’s death toll is the highest on a single day since the protests broke out in mid-July. New Age earlier confirmed at least 67 deaths on July 19, when the students were protesting seeking reform in quotas for government services.
With Sunday’s 92 deaths, the death toll stood at 311 in the ongoing student protest that turned violent on July 15 following the attack by the ruling party student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League on protesters.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people from all walks of life, including students, parents, teachers, day labourers, social workers, and other professional bodies, took to the streets in most of the places in Dhaka city, including Shahbagh, Science Laboratory, Jatrabari, Mohakhali, Dhanmondi-27, Mirpur-10, Uttara, Rampura, and Badda.
Clashes erupted between the protesters and the supporters of the ruling party in the city areas like Banglamotor, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, Science Laboratory, Mirpur, Jatrabri, and Mohamadpur.
Many of the supporters of the ruling party were seen carrying sharp weapons, sticks, and firearms in these areas.
Ruling party activists were also seen opening fire at Banglamotor, Hatirpool, and Karwan Bazar areas after the evening, despite the government imposing a curfew from 6:00pm.
Protesters allegedly threw brickbats at Shahbagh police station at about 6:30pm, prompting the police to lob tear shells and open fire to disperse the protesters, witnesses said.
Protesters snatched the bodies of four people from Dhaka Medical College Hospital at around 6:00pm and went to the Central Shaheed Minar with the bodies, and shouted various slogans. DMCH police outpost-in-charge Bacchu Mia confirmed the matter.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ramna Division additional deputy commissioner Md Aktharul Islam said that several police constables faced minor injuries.
“We did not open fire but used sound grenades to disperse protesters,” he said, adding that they also vandalised police vehicles.
Some protesters brought out a procession at the Dainik Bangla crossing at about 7:00pm and police opened fire to disperse them.
Earlier in the day, BCL allegedly attacked protesters in Shahbagh, triggering a chase and counter-chase, prompting the ruling party activists to take shelter in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
About 30-35 vehicles, doctors’ cafeterias, and administrative buildings were set on fire by the protesters, said an official of BSSMU.
Protesters denied their role in the arson attack on cars in the BSMMU area.
Our correspondents from Chattogram, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal, Cumilla, Lakshimipur, Munshiganj, Pabna, Sirajganj, Feni, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Joypurhat, and Bhola reported that protestors continued demonstrations even after curfew hours started.
In Sirajganj, deputy commissioner Mir Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman told New Age that six AL activists were killed in Rayganj and three were killed in Sadar upazilas.
Hospital officials and police confirmed that 11 people were killed in Dhaka.
In Lakshmipur, Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital resident medical officer Arup Paul confirmed the deaths of eight people, while in Feni 250 Bed General Hospital resident medical officer Asif Iqbal confirmed the deaths of eight people in the district.
Narsingdi’s Madabdi police officer-in-charge, Kamruzzaman, confirmed the deaths of six people in the upazila, while Rangpur deputy commissioner Mohammad Mobasher Hasan confirmed five deaths in his district.
The victims in the district include a local ward councillor and his bodyguard, he said.
Magura superintendent of police Mashiuddaula Reza confirmed the four deaths, while Pabna General Hospital assistant director Rafiqul Hasan confirmed the deaths of three people in the hospital.
Mohsin Uddin Fakir, Superintendent of Magura 250 bed District Hospital in Magura, confirmed all four died of bullet injuries in the district.
Munshiganj General Hospital superintendent Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal confirmed two deaths in the hospital, while Sirajdikhan Upazila Health Complex resident medical officer AKM Taiful Haque confirmed another death.
Kishoreganj deputy commissioner Md Abul Kalam Azad confirmed three deaths, while Sylhet’s Golapganj Upazila Health Complex resident medical officer Shahin Ahmed confirmed three deaths, and Sherpur deputy commissioner Abdullah Al-Khayrum confirmed three deaths in the upazila.
According to Kishoreganj deputy commissioner Azad, two of the three victims in the district were burned to death when the protesters set fire to the house of a cousin of former Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam.
Bogura Shaheed Zia Medical College Hospital deputy director Abdul Wadud confirmed three deaths, while the district’s civil surgeon Mohammad Shafiul Azam confirmed another death.
In Cumilla, three deaths were confirmed, respectively, by Debidwar police officer-in-charge Nayan Mia, Highway Police DIG Khairul Alam, and district civil surgeon Nasima Akter.
Deputy commissioners and police officers of Barishal, Jaipurhat, Habiganj, Cox’s Bazar, and Bhola confirmed one death each in their respective districts.
In the wake of deadly clashes, students on announced a March to Dhaka programme for today.
The ‘March to Dhaka’ programme was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but Asif Mamhmud, a coordinator of the protests, said that they had reviewed decision in emergency situation and decided to hold the event on Monday.
