DHAKA, 21 June 2006 — At least 120 people were hurt in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh yesterday in clashes between the police and opposition workers trying to march to Election Commission offices, witnesses said.
At least 50 people were injured in Dhaka, while 50 more were hurt in southern Bagerhat and 20 others in northern Mymensingh district towns during a countrywide program to march to the offices of the Election Commission.
Police used batons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse rock-throwing activists pushing through barbed-wire barricades at Dhaka’s Russel Square and Agargaon areas.
Dozens of vehicles and a number of roadside shops were also damaged at Bagerhat where pro-government activists attacked a march by the opposition, police said.
Meanwhile, a high court yesterday refused to block the opposition’s plan to lay a siege to the office of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and observe a countrywide strike scheduled for July 2.
