Chittagong: Four people were killed after police fired on protesters who they said attacked a police station in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong on Friday during a demonstration against a visit to the country by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dozens were also hurt in the capital Dhaka where police used rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with violent protesters, witnesses said.
“We had to fire teargas and rubber bullets to disperse them as they entered a police station and carried out extensive vandalism,” police official said, referring to protesters.
Previously, hundreds of supporters of a hardline Islamist group in Bangladesh attacked and vandalised 70 to 80 houses belonging to Hindus in the country’s northeastern Sylhet division following a critical social media post allegedly by a youth from the minority community. Human rights groups and Hindu leaders condemned the incident and said the minorities had been targeted in a planned way with the aim to drive them away.
Modi landed in Dhaka on Friday for a two-day visit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence. This is PM Modi’s first foreign trip since COVID-19 outbreak. During this visit, PM Modi held a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momin. He has visited the National Martyrs Memorial at Savar, Dhaka. Apart from this, he also met people of Indian origin.