At least 95 people, including agitating students, general people, ruling party supporters and policemen, were killed and hundreds of others injured in deadly clashes across the country on Sunday, the first day of the non-cooperation movement announced by the platform Students Against Discrimination seeking resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet.
The number of casualties is highly likely to rise as many were left with critical injuries and reports were still coming until the filing of this report at 9:30pm.
Many of the dead bodies were sent to the morgues of different hospitals for autopsies and the injured were admitted to different government and private hospitals and clinics for treatment.
Till 9:30pm Sunday, the death toll stood at 95, including 23 people in Sirajganj — 13 of whom were policemen, eight in Dhaka, eight in Feni, six in Narsingdi, eight in Lakshmipur, five in Bogura, four in Rangpur, four in Kishoreganj, three in Pabna, three in Munshiganj, three in Bhola, four in Magura, five in Sylhet, three including one policeman in Cumilla, two in Sherpur, one in Barishal, two in Dhaka’s Keraniganj and Savar, one in Habiganj, one in Cox’s Bazar and one in Joypurhat, according to our correspondents and media reports citing hospital and police officials.
Amid the clashes, the government withdrew the relaxed hours and imposed curfew for an indefinite period in Dhaka Metropolitan area and all divisional headquarters, city corporations, municipalities, industrial areas, district and upazila headquarters from 6pm on Sunday.
The government also announced a three-day general holiday on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to ensure public safety, which means all types of offices, courts, banks, stock markets and financial institutions will remain closed during this time.
All the proceedings of the Appellate Division and High Court Division of the Supreme Court will remain closed for an indefinite period from Monday, said different notices issued by the apex court administration.
In the afternoon, mobile internet was also shut down following the instructions of a government agency, officials concerned said. Several social media platforms, including all Meta platforms, were also found inaccessible since then.
Following the clashes, deaths and injuries, the key coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination in the afternoon declared the indefinite curfew “ineffective”.
“After the one point, none of their orders are valid. Therefore, the curfew announced from 6pm [Sunday] has been declared ineffective,” Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators, said in a media release sent to journalists.
Earlier, they also announced a “Long March to Dhaka” for Monday and urged all students, citizens and workers from all districts to come to the capital to make the programme a success.
“If there is an internet shutdown, we are abducted, arrested, killed, if there is no one to announce it, we urge everyone to occupy the streets with the one-point demand until the fall of the government and continue the non-cooperation movement peacefully,” they urged the people of the country in a statement sent to mass media.
Meanwhile, the government has urged all the students and their guardians to return home and stay safe, saying that militant attacks were taking place in different places across the country.
"Strict action will be taken against the attackers," read a government press release.
Throughout the day, most of the shops and malls situated near the main roads in Dhaka and other parts of the country were closed amid the protests and clashes.
Massive number of protesters, including students and general people, started to gather in the capital's Dhaka University, Shahbagh and National Press Club, Mirpur, Uttara and Rampura areas, among other key spots, since Sunday morning to join the non-cooperation movement demonstrations.
At least two were killed in Uttara during a clash between ruling party supporters. At least one person was shot to death in Mirpur-10 during clashes.
About 100 people who suffered gunshot wounds were treated at Alok Hospital, said the hospital's Dr Mushfiq Hossain. The nearby Popular Diagnostic Centre also provided medical care to 50 injured people.
Violence erupted in Mirpur at around 12pm, when protesting students from Mirpur-14 started moving towards Mirpur-10 intersection, where ruling party supporters had already gathered.
According to locals, the ruling party men started firing with firearms. After about two hours of gunfire and clashes, the police arrived on the scene and opened fire on the students.
After a while, a group of Bangladesh Army personnel arrived at the spot and accompanied the students for a while. At around 3:20pm, the students managed to occupy Mirpur-10, forcing the ruling party supporters to retreat.
At around 12:30pm, a clash also broke out between protesters and ruling party men near the Awami League office in the capital’s Dhanmondi area, when protesters from Dhanmondi-2 area moved to Dhanmondi-3. Sounds of gunshots and stun grenades were reported from the scene.
Meanwhile, Thousands of protesters gathered at the Shahbagh intersection in the morning and blocked it chanting slogans to press home their one-point demand -- resignation of the government.
Witnesses said when some ruling party men tried to obstruct protesters near the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and the protesters chased them. At one stage, the AL men took shelter at BSMMU.
Later, several vehicles in the BSMMU premises were set on fire and the hospital’s ground floor was vandalised. Protesters claimed the ruling party activists were behind the vandalism and arson.
A group of miscreants also carried out an attack on the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court in the morning.
Apart from these, clashes and gunfire also took place in the capital city’s Mohammadpur and many other areas.
Moreover, violent clashes and arson attacks rocked most of the districts — including Sirajganj, Chattogram, Dinajpur, Sylhet, Khulna, Kushtia, Feni, Narsingdi, Lakshmipur, Bogura, Rangpur, Kishoreganj, Pabna, Munshiganj, Bhola, Magura, Cumilla, Sherpur, Barishal, Habiganj, Cox’s Bazar and Joypurhat — across the country, leaving many dead and numerous injured.
