DHAKA: At least 50 people were killed and scores injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday, local media reported, as police fired tear gas and lobbed stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.
The interior ministry declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6pm (1200 GMT) on Sunday, the first time it has taken such a step during the current protests that began last month.
The unrest, which has prompted the government to shut down internet services, is its biggest test since deadly protests erupted after Hasina won a fourth straight term in January elections that were boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Critics of Hasina, along with human rights groups, have accused her government of using excessive force to stamp out the movement, a charge she and her ministers deny.
Demonstrators blocked major highways on Sunday as student protesters launched a non-cooperation program to press for the government’s resignation, and violence spread nationwide.
“Those who are protesting on the streets right now are not students, but terrorists who are out to destabilise the nation,” Hasina said after a national security panel meeting.
“I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand.”
Two construction workers were killed on their way to work and 30 injured in the central district of Munsiganj, during a three-way clash of protesters, police and ruling party activists, witnesses said.
