Student protesters on Friday freed ‘hundreds’ of inmates from a jail in Narsingdi district in central Bangladesh before setting the prison building on fire, local police said.
“The inmates fled the jail and the protesters set the jail on fire”, a police officer told news agency AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know the number of inmates, but it would be in the hundreds”, he added.
A senior government official confirmed the news of the jailbreak but did not provide further details.
Dhaka’s police force banned all public gatherings for the day in an effort to prevent another day of violence.
“We’ve banned all rallies, processions and public gatherings in Dhaka today,” police chief Habibur Rahman said, adding the move was necessary to ensure “public safety”.
However, that did not stop another round of confrontations between police and protesters, despite an internet shutdown aimed at frustrating the organisation of rallies.
“Our protest will continue,” a protester said, adding that they want the ‘immediate resignation of Sheikh Hasina’. “The government is responsible for the killings”, he added.
Notably, at least 64 people have died so far in the unrest, according to certain reports quoting the count of victims reported by hospitals.
The quota stir in Bangladesh, which began on July 1 following the High Court’s reinstatement of the freedom fighters’ quota, reserving one-third of civil service posts for their descendants, has escalated into violent clashes.
Thousands of students, armed with sticks and rocks, have faced off against armed police in cities across Bangladesh, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Rangpur, and Cumilla.
The student protest and the subsequent arson and stone pelting has caused significant disruptions in Dhaka and other big cities of the country, leading to hardship for the people.
Students took to the streets in at least eight districts, blocking roads and train routes, according to The Daily Star.
Train services were heavily impacted, with blockades in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, and Chattogram.