Protests mount in Bangladesh over shortages

DHAKA, Apr 12 (Reuters) At least one man was killed in clashes between police and thousands of people protesting in a northern town today against shortages of basic commodities and the high price of utilities, police and witnesses said.

They said several protesters were injured when police fired teargas shells and rubber bullets to disperse them.

Unconfirmed reports by reporters on or near the scene said up to four protesters died today, taking the number of deaths to 14 since the trouble began in January.

Demonstrators gathered in Kanshat, some 350 km (220 miles) from Dhaka, attacked policemen with stones and sticks, wounding five of them, a police officer said.

''The situation is getting tense, the people are planning to rally in larger numbers during the night,'' an official said, adding nearly 30 people had been arrested.

Bangladeshis are increasingly taking their protests to the streets as the shortages and high prices of essential goods hit their pockets.

Across the country, power is routinely cut for up to four hours a day, food prices have soared by 40 per cent and fuel -- particularly diesel -- is in short supply.

Today some 20,000 protesters faced off against nearly 2,000 police and paramilitary troops at Kanshat, the centre of popular discontent in Chapainawabganj district, one of the country's prime mango growing areas.

Police arrested 16 people, including three women, after raiding suspected protesters' homes at Kanshat last night, local officials said.

At least 10 people had been killed, nearly 100 injured and many more have fled their homes in weeks of protests before today, Chapainawabganj officials said.

The situation was likely to worsen tomorrow when a 14-party opposition alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was expected to hold a rally there in support of farmers and villagers.

''We cannot keep silent and must stand by them at this hour of crisis,'' said Obaidul Kader, senior leader of Hasina's Awami League.

''The valour and courage of the Kahnshat people have insprired us to boost other protests against the government which has failed to address people's problems,'' said a leader of Hasina's 14-party alliance, who asked not to be named.

Local mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, a leader of ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said the protests were fueled by the opposition hoping to make political gains.

Elsewhere in the country, including the capital Dhaka, hundreds of men and women have staged daily protests for weeks demanding better supplies of gas, water and electricity.

Prices of food including rice, fish, meat, sugar, vegetables, fruits and edible oil have risen by at least 40 percent over the past two months, with no visible government moves to contain them.

The protests and shortages could have a strong bearing on the parliamentary election Bangladesh is scheduled to have in January 2007, in which Hasina and current Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia will face off for a fourth time.

REUTERS SI HS2026