Over 100 Held, 60 Hurt As Opposition Party Clash With Police In Bangladesh

Bangladesh's main opposition party alleged that police in the capital Dhaka arrested over 100 of its activists on Tuesday after a clash in which 60 others were injured during a protest rally organized to condemn the recent religious riots across the country.

Later in the day, Bangladesh National Party (BNP) senior leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed that police have injured more than 60 of his party's activists with baton charges and "live bullets."

"Police arrested over 100 workers during today's protest," he stated, demanding that they be released immediately.

The opposition BNP held the rally in the capital's Naya Paltan neighborhood, in front of its party headquarters, in the wake of communal violence across the country. The clash ensued shortly after the leaders and activists started marching on the nearby streets.

Police dispersed the BNP activists by using tear gas and beating them with sticks.

However, Deputy Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Abdul Ahad told reporters that BNP activists were not supposed to march on the streets since they had not obtained permission to do so.

"They throw bricks at police," the official asserted. Therefore, police were forced to charge with sticks. Many of his policemen were injured in their brick-throwing by the party activists, he counterclaimed.

A large number of policemen, as well as an armored vehicle, were deployed at the BNP rally.

From the protest ground, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged the government to resign peacefully, giving up power through an election under a non-partisan government.

Calling it a people's demand, he alleged that the government failed to handle communal violence and infringed human rights by making people's lives miserable.

Communal violence spread across the country after the alleged desecration of the Muslims' holy book, the Quran, at a Hindu festival on October 13, leaving at least five people dead and over 100 injured.

Several thousands of people have already been named in police cases across the country, while several hundred have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the riots. -