Bangladesh opposition protest turns violent amid calls for PM to resign

One police officer was killed in Bangladesh on Saturday and over 100 people injured during an opposition party protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and calling for a free and fair vote under a caretaker government.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as clashes erupted when tens of thousands of supporters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) gathered in the capital Dhaka, chanting slogans against the government.

Dozens of vehicles, including police vans and ambulances, were set on fire, police and media said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Hossain told reporters one officer had been killed and 41 others were injured in clashes with protesters.

Several journalists were attacked and injured while trying to cover the clashes, media reports said.

Security was tightened in the city in recent days as thousands of people arrived to attend the rally. Hundreds of opposition party activists have been arrested, BNP leaders said.

The party has been calling on Hasina to resign to allow elections scheduled in January to be held under a neutral caretaker government — a demand her government has so far rejected.

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"Today's rally continued for hours in a perfectly disciplined and peaceful manner until all of a sudden the lobbing of tear gas shells started," senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan told Reuters.

"The intensity increased and violent attacks with sounds of blasts and shootings turned the whole place into a war zone."

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In May, Washington said it would impose visa sanctions on Bangladeshis who undermine the democratic process at home, after accusations of vote-rigging and suppressing the opposition marred elections in 2014 and 2018. Hasina's government has denied the charges.