More than a thousand hurt in clashes between agitators and law enforcers
An aerial photo shows Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Dhanmondi-32 burning yesterday afternoon after Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country. Photo: AFP
Clashes between mobs and law enforcers at different parts of the capital left at least 66 people dead and over a thousand wounded yesterday.
In the morning, clashes began in some areas of the capital when law enforcers opened fire on protesters who were trying to take part in the march to Dhaka, announced the day before, defying the curfew.
Around afternoon, when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets celebrating Sheikh Hasina's resignation, angry mobs attacked several police stations and key structures.
Police opened fire which caused most of the deaths.
Columns of thick smoke covered parts of the Dhaka sky as the mobs set fire to three Awami League offices, the police headquarters, several police stations, the residence of Dhaka superintendent of police, three TV stations and the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Dhanmondi-32.
The inspector general of police and several other top police officials were air lifted from the police headquarters while other officials managed to flee, said an official who escaped the attack unscathed.
"Many vehicles parked on the PHQ premise were burning when I managed to flee," said the officer.
Among the 66 dead, 41 were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital while 21 to a hospital in Uttara. Among the bodies taken to DMCH, 21 came from the Jatrabari area. At least four bodies were lying in front of Jatrabari Police Station.
DMCH
All the bodies that turned up at the DMCH had bullet wounds. There were two exceptions; one person appeared to have been hacked, and another person presumably died from shotgun pellet injuries.
At least two of those killed were minors. One of them was identified as Shaon. The other could not be identified immediately.
In most cases, people who brought the bodies in told our correspondent that police shot them. Some said they brought in the bodies of onlookers who were shot.
Azmot Miah, a fish trader, had locked his store in Jatrabari and was inside during the clashes. A bullet hit him in the neck, said the people who brought him in.
Journalist Abdur Noor, 27, who worked for Ajker Goyenda Sangbad, was among those brought in dead from Jatrabari, his older brother Ziaul Haque said.
Bodies of people killed in Bangshal, North Badda, and Narayanganj's Kajla were also taken to DMCH.
The bodies were checked, booked, and carted away to the morgue and before the blood on the floor could be cleaned, another body would be brought in and placed on the same spot on the floor.
By the end of the day, the entire floor of the emergency ward was covered with red footprints.
Many relatives of those who lost their loved ones raged against the now-fallen government.
The DMCH was allowing families to take away the bodies without conducting an autopsy.
At the hospital, over 350 people received treatment.
Earlier in the day, a group of policemen went to the DMCH and fired at the emergency department at 12:47pm. Immediately afterwards, two bodies were taken to the emergency department.
Meanwhile, 21 people including a policeman were killed and over 100 injured in the capital's Uttara in the afternoon when men in plain clothes opened fire on protesters from Uttara East Police Station.
Thirteen bodies were taken to Uttara Crescent Hospital while eight others to Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Govt Hospital, sources said.
The Daily Star correspondent on the spot saw partially charred body of policeman AH Rony being taken out of the station by a mob.
Our correspondent from the spot said hundreds of people surrounded the police station around 4:50pm, stormed it around 8:00pm, and then set it on fire.
Witnesses said a clash ensued after a mob threw brick chunks at an armoured personnel carrier (APC) near the police station around 4:45pm. Two men in plain clothes then opened fire on the mob.
They fired bullets, rubber bullets, and teargas indiscriminately, they said.
The group then set fire to the APC, our correspondent observed.
At one stage, several people broke the wall of the armoury at the police station and took away firearms and ammunition. Some were seen firing the looted firearms at the police station.
The policemen were firing from the roof of the three-storey building until 9:30pm.
A group of people also attacked the Badda Police Station around 3:00pm. Police responded with gunfire, teargas and stun grenades. An officer at the police station, requesting anonymity, said that the station was burnt to the ground.
Mobs also attacked and torched the Jatrabari, Mohammadpur, and Adabar police stations.
Around 4:00pm, mobs torched the Awami League headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue, the district AL office in Tejgaon, and the political office of the Awami League president in Dhanmondi.
The Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Dhanmondi-32 was vandalised and set on fire around 4:00pm. Many were seen taking away valuables from the building.
Around 2:15pm, thousands of protesters were marching towards Shahbagh. As they passed TSC, some of them threw brick chunks at the police, leading to clashes. During that time, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at the protesters.
Mobs also vandalised and torched Ekattor TV, Channel 24, and ATN Bangla in the afternoon, around the same time Somoy TV was ransacked.
The attackers also took away equipment. Channel 24, ATN Bangla, ATN News went off the air.
Bangla daily Amader Natun Shomay office was attacked by a mob late last night. Saleh Biplob, executive editor of the paper, said their office was vandalised.
Thousands of people stormed the Dhanmondi home of former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan around 3:30pm yesterday and vandalised it.
In the afternoon, a mob also vandalised the residence of the Dhaka University vice chancellor.
The residence of the superintendent of police of Dhaka was also attacked. The attackers were seen looting valuables.
Fire service late last night said there were reports of at least 200 fire incidents in the capital yesterday.
