Dhaka, July 18 (UNI): Six more persons were killed and more than 150 injured in widespread clashes between quota protestors and the police in Bangladesh on Thursday.
Rail and Communication links between the capital Dhaka and the rest of the country remained snapped during a “complete shutdown” called by the agitators.
The toll in clashes sparked by the protests, that began earlier this month, has now gone up to 12, with hundreds of people injured across the country.
The protestors, mainly comprising students, are seeking an end to the quota system for recruitment in Bangladesh civil services and government jobs, set fire to buses and a state-run television station and disrupted metro rail services even as the government offered to hold talks, media reports said.
“Government has agreed to hold talks with the quota reformists,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told journalists at the premises of the Jatiya Sangsad – parliament.
There were reports of violent clashes between the protesters and law enforcement agencies across the country with Dhaka was on the boil.
In Dhaka, at least four people were killed in Uttara, a student died in Savar, and a man perished in the Badda-Rampura areas during clashes between quota protesters and police, The Daily Star reported.
Over 100 others, mostly private university students, were injured in Badda-Rampura.
In parts of Dhaka, streets seemed deserted, as fear gripped people following students’ enforcement of the dawn-to-dusk “complete shutdown” across the country.
Police lobbed tear gas shells after violent clashes broke out between school and college students and the lawkeepers in the Dhanmondi area of the capital.
Police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells to control the rampaging students at Bahaddarhat in Chattogram City, around 250 km from the capital city Dhaka.
In Dinajpur town, around 330 kilometres from Dhaka, 50 people were injured during sporadic clashes between quota protesters and activists of the country’s ruling Awami League and its student wing Chhatra League.
Meanwhile, Dhaka’s rail link with most of the country was snapped as students blocked the Mohakhali level crossing here, Dhaka Tribune reported.
