DHAKA: Dozens of people were injured in Bangladesh yesterday as opposition protesters clashed with riot police on the second day of a blockade to force electoral reform and postpone national polls this month.
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Dhaka's old quarter who pelted them with stones and small bombs as the nationwide opposition blockade erupted into violence for a second day.
There were confrontations in central Dhaka too, with riot police baton-charging demonstrators. The blockade is paralysing the impoverished country in an attempt to force the government to delay the January 22 general election which the opposition says is stacked in favour of the outgoing ruling party.
At least 20 people were seriously hurt in the clashes in the capital, police said, while media reports said at least 50 more suffered minor injuries.
In a third clash at Kerainiganj on Dhaka's southern outskirts, at least 20 people including six police officers needed hospital treatment, said local police chief Samiul Alam.
At least 150 people were arrested for violence during the protests, said an officer.
The Awami League and its 13 leftist allies are enforcing the second day of their 72-hour blockade.
Some 12,500 police officers and thousands more soldiers patrolled the streets of the capital. In Dhaka, buses and lorries did not operate, deliveries from ports were suspended and most businesses and educational institutions were closed. Rail and ferry services were also disrupted.
There was a similar situation in other key cities. As the violence spread, caretaker President Iajuddin Ahmed summoned army chief Lieutenant-General Moiuddin U Khan to the presidential palace.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday expressed his "concern as Bangladesh parties were unable to agree on an appropriate electoral process".
US and European diplomats have also expressed concern that Bangladesh is heading into a period of serious political instability.
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