18 dead, polling booths attacked in Bangladesh
Print Edition
Thousands of protesters firebombed polling stations and at least 18 people were killed as violence flared across Bangladesh yesterday during a walkover election boycotted by the opposition.
Police said they had opened fire at protesters as they torched more than 200 polling stations and stole and burnt ballot papers to try to sabotage the poll.
Two of those killed were beaten to death while guarding polling stations in northern districts but most of the victims were opposition supporters.
“We’ve seen thousands of protesters attack polling booths and our personnel at a number of locations with petrol bombs,” Syed Abu Sayem, police chief of the northern district of Bogra, said.
“The situation is extremely volatile,” he added after describing how thousands of ballot papers had been set on fire.
Most of the other victims were opposition activists shot by police, while a driver died of his injuries from a petrol bomb attack on his truck.
Police put the overall toll at 18 although the opposition said 22 of its supporters were killed.
“We were forced to open fire after thousands of them attacked us with guns and small bombs,” said Mokbul Hossain, police chief in the northern town of Parbatipur. “It was a coordinated attack. They managed to seize some ballot papers and they tried to steal our weapons.”
In the capital Dhaka, whose streets were largely deserted apart from thousands of troops, police confirmed three petrol bombings of polling stations.
Tens of thousands of troops were deployed across the country after around 150 people had been killed in the build-up to the election.
The ruling Awami League has accused the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party of orchestrating the violence and has kept its leader under de facto house arrest.
The opposition had demanded that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina make way for a neutral caretaker government before the election to ensure no ballot-rigging, a system in force in the past.
It staged weeks of deadly protests, including transport blockades and calls for strikes, to press its demands.
A general strike called by the BNP, which began on Saturday, has now been extended until Wednesday morning as the party tries to ratchet up the pressure.
Although there was no immediate figure on turnout, officials acknowledged that it was poor.
“The turnout was low, partly due to the boycott by many parties,” said election commission chief Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad.
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