Four persons were shot dead in the demonstrations against the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday, reported AFP.
The international news agency reported that the slain were supporters of a hardline Islamist group. Police told the agency that four bodies of members of Hefazat-e-Islam were brought to Chittagong Medical College Hospital after violence erupted at Hathazari, a rural town where the group’s main leaders are based.
“We got four bodies here. They are all hit with bullets. Three of them are madrasa students and another a tailor,” Alauddin Talukder, a police inspector at the hospital, told AFP.
Ruhul Amin, the government administrator of Hathazari town, said up to 1,500 supporters of Hefazat attacked a police station chanting anti-Modi slogans.
“They attacked us all of a sudden,” he said, without confirming whether any protesters were killed.
Hathazari is home to one of Bangladesh’s largest madrasas and is the headquarters of the Hefazat, which was formed in 2010 and is believed to be the country’s largest hardline Islamist outfit.
Hefazat spokesman Mir Idris accused police of “opening fire” at their “peaceful” supporters.
“There were some 5,000 protesters. They were all Hefazat supporters and they were mostly madrasa students. They were protesting Modi’s visit and police actions against demonstrators in Dhaka,” he said.
He was referring to other smaller clashes at the compound of the country’s largest mosque in central Dhaka after Friday prayers when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at brick-throwing Islamist supporters.
At least nine of these protesters were injured, he said.
