At least 150 dead: Bloody protests sweep Bangladesh

At least 150 victims: Bloody protests sweep Bangladesh Sofia Rozhik

/Collage 24 Channel/Photo BBC Bangla

Anti-government protests continue in Bangladesh. There have already been several clashes between the police and students, resulting in many casualties.

Demonstrators in the capital Dhaka planned to hold a peaceful rally, but police attacked them as they were about to gather. At least 150 protesters are known to have been killed.

Internet cut off in Bangladesh

Unrest broke out in the country due to the introduction of quotas for government jobs. Most of them have so far been canceled by the Supreme Court.

They also introduced a nationwide Internet shutdown. Since Thursday, July 18, it has significantly limited the flow of information in the country. The country is also under a curfew.

Communication restrictions were lifted somewhat on Tuesday, July 23. However, priority was given to banks, technology firms and the media.

Mobile phones have started pinging WhatsApp messages between friends and families, but users say the internet is slow and the mobile internet and sites such as Facebook remain suspended, writes the BBC.

Students were shot at from a helicopter and tortured

Protesters said that the police first attacked the students by throwing tear gas shells. Some of them flew back to the police. The youth also fought back with bricks and stones. Subsequently, rubber bullets and sound grenades were fired at the students, and a helicopter fired from the air.

That day we just wanted to hold a peaceful protest, but the police ruined everything without having time to do anything,” said one of the students.

The seriously wounded students were not even allowed to be taken to the hospital. And some were tortured.

Thus, the father of one of the victims said that his son was taken from a friend’s house at midnight on Friday, and he returned a day later. The guy said that he was interrogated and subjected to physical and psychological torture by people who called themselves detectives. After the torture, he lost consciousness and came to his senses only the next morning. The guy went home and later went to the hospital due to blood clots on both shoulders and his left leg.

Bangladesh authorities said that by such actions someone was allegedly trying to discredit the police.

A doctor at the emergency room where the wounded were taken said he was stunned by the number of young people who suffered gunshot wounds during the clashes. In a short period of time, hundreds of patients poured in, many of them arriving on foot, covered in blood. with gunshot wounds. On Thursday, we performed 30 operations in one six-hour shift, even for an experienced doctor, my colleagues and I were very worried, treating so many wounded young people,” the doctors said.

~60. ~h2 class=”news-subtitle cke-markup”>The relatives of the victims are not going to file a complaint with the police

Doctors said that most of the victims were shot with rubber bullets.

Many of the victims did not participate in the clashes at all. Thus, a 21-year-old guy was shot in the back when he tried to escape from the fighting, and later died in the hospital. A construction worker was also among the dead. , who found himself in a fire trap in his house – he was found burnt along with the bodies of two others.

At the same time, some relatives of the victims are not going to file statements with the police, arguing this the fact that their relatives will not return.