13 people have so far died in clashes between protesters and forces in Bangladesh against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protesters – mostly from the religious hardline group Hefazat-e-Islam – were angry at the visit of PM Modi as Bangladesh marked 50 years of independence, accusing him of stoking communal violence against Muslims in his country, Al-Jazeera reported.
Five people died on Friday, and another six the next day, after police shot at demonstrators in several main districts across the Muslim-majority nation of 168 million people.
Two others – a 19-year-old and a 23-year-old – died in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria after officers opened fire in clashes in the rural town of Sarail on Sunday, a police spokesman told the AFP news agency.
“They (protesters) stormed a highway police station, torching it and injuring at least 35 policemen. Police opened fire in self-defence,” the spokesman told AFP news agency. He did not say if the pair had been shot dead by police.
He said some 3,000 protesters, mostly Hefazat supporters, had blocked a highway and attacked police with bricks and stones.
