One killed, 50 injured in Bangladesh protests

DHAKA - One person was killed and over 50 people sustained bullet wounds as villagers protesting the government’s attempt to acquire their lands for an army housing project clashed with security forces near the national capital Saturday.

Angry villagers said they were forced to part with their lands and attacked army camps, set a jeep on fire and damaged two other vehicles during the clashes in Roopganj, a sub-district of Narayanganj near Dhaka. Police have registered cases against 3,000 people.

Narayanganj district police chief Biswas Afzal Hossain told New Age newspaper that the situation improved after the army withdrew from the camps.

Witnesses said the clashes broke out around 9.30 a.m. when villagers were holding a rally in front of Tanmosori army camp demanding withdrawal of the four camps set up by the army at Nawara, Purbagram, Baraichhari and Tanmosori villages and cancellation of the army housing project.

The army confirmed a civilian and three of its personnel were injured and blamed the clash on “vested quarters”.

Amid continued protests, army authorities withdrew the camps and airlifted the troops by helicopters, witnesses were quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Soon after the army left the camps around 4 p.m., the villagers set the camps ablaze and took away furniture and tin sheets, police said.

The ruling Awami League’s joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, also special assistant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, blamed leader of opposition in parliament and former prime minister Khaleda Zia for the incident, bdnews24.com, a newspaper website reported.