Shibir Independence Day rally fired upon by Police in Dhaka

At least 21 activists were bullet ridden in clashes following police obstruction of a peaceful rally of Chatra Shibir on Wednesday morning at Moghbazaar in Dhaka.  

The bullet ridden activists were reported to be all Shibir activists. This was claimed by multiple sources from Shibir itself.

According to various sources, Shibir activists and leaders brought out a procession at Moghbazaar as part of their daylong activities on 26^th March, the Independence Day of Bangladesh. The plan was to conclude the peaceful procession at Hatirjheel.

However, at a certain point police obstructed the procession and started firing upon the peaceful activists. News agencies report the use of tearshells, rubber bullets and empty bullets. In the mayhem that followed, 21 activists were bullet ridden. Various news media have also reported that at least 5-7 activists have been arrested by the police. Many have been reported injured, with some media claiming up to a 100 activists injured

On this issue, banglanews reports Ramna thana OC Shah Alam as saying that Shibir took out a ‘flash’ procession in the city. At this time police obstructed the rally, after which Shibir activists took on police by throwing bricks and stones at the law enforcers. In response police used empty shells, rubber bullets and tear shells to disperse the activists. However, the official could not say whether this led to any injuries among the protesters. However, he added that police had arrested 7 people from the procession.