One dead, dozens injured in Bangladesh clashes

Dhaka, Jan 2: At least one person was killed while dozens suffered injuries as paramilitary troops fired live rounds on Wednesday evening during clashes with opposition protesters in Bangladesh.

"Faruk Hossain Patowari, the youth wing activist of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died of gun shot wound on the way to the hospital," a police official from Chandpur district, some 115 km from Dhaka said.

The official, who refused to be named, said clashes erupted after pro-blockade activists attacked paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) soldiers in a patrol car.

BGB personnel returned fire to quell unruly protesters, he said.

At least 25 people including law enforcers were injured in the clashes in Chandpur, the stronghold of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's BNP which launched an indefinite blockade from Wednesday morning to put pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to scrap the parliamentary polls slated for Jan 5.

Wednesday's blockade came after the end of the opposition's two-day "March for Democracy" on Monday.

IANS