Police used water cannons and fired sound grenades to disperse a group of dismissed members of the former Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), who were demonstrating near the Kakrail Mosque intersection in the capital on Monday. The demonstrators had gathered to press home their three-point demand.
The protest march began around 11:30am from in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh, with the demonstrators heading toward the official residence and office of the chief adviser of the interim government at Jamuna.
According to reports, before police took action, Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Ramna Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), had called on the protesters to send a representative to Jamuna for discussions. He also gave them a 10-minute ultimatum to leave the Kakrail Mosque area.
When the protesters refused and insisted on staying, police deployed water cannons and fired six sound grenades at around 12:15pm to disperse them.
Sources said several protesters and police personnel were injured during the clash. Some demonstrators were also detained. The protesters later scattered and took positions in the Shahbagh, Matsya Bhaban, and Kakrail areas.
The dismissed BDR members, who lost their jobs after the 2009 BDR mutiny, were demonstrating for the reinstatement of their jobs with compensation, the cancellation of certain provisions of the independent investigation commission on the Pilkhana massacre, and to revert the BGB’s name back to BDR (Bangladesh Rifles).
Meanwhile, the DMP has imposed a ban on all types of gatherings, meetings, rallies, and processions around the Bangladesh Secretariat and the chief adviser’s residence, Jamuna.
Police said the protesters defied these restrictions and marched toward Jamuna and law enforcers intervened to disperse them.