Police arrested five people as protesters clashed with police in Baitul Mukarram National Mosque area in the capital after Jum’a prayers on Friday.
Several people were injured in the incident.
The clash began as the devotees brought a procession in protest against ‘hurting religious sentiment’ in Cumilla.
The detective branch of police detained the people at around 2:45pm while the other three earlier.
Sajjadur Rahman, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Ramna division confirmed the matter.
Witnesses said a large number of devotees came out from the national mosque after the Jum’a prayers chanting slogans against hurting religious sentiment, adds UNB.
The procession marched through the Paltan crossing and Bijoynagar intersection, and then proceeded towards Kakrail Nightingale crossing.
As police tried to intercept the procession at the Nightingale crossing, they threw brickbats at the law enforcers.
Police also charged batons and lobbed teargas shells triggering a chase-and-counter-chase between the devotees and the cops.
As the clash spilled over to Bijoynagar crossing, police used watercannons and fired blank shots. They brought the situation under control around 2:10pm.
Traffic on the roads in the areas came to a complete halt during the clash.
Contacted, Deputy Commissioner (Motijheel range) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Abdul Ahad said the law enforcers charged batons and fired teargas shells to control the situation as the devotees threw brickbats at the law enforcers.
Earlier, security was beefed up surrounding the national mosque deploying members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and different intelligence agencies alongside the police to avert any untoward incident.
