DHAKA, 30 March 2005 — Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to quell protests at Ashuganj square in eastern Brahmanbaria district yesterday, leaving around 100 protesters wounded and disrupting inter-district traffic. Traffic on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway was disrupted for two hours as the rioting took place, witnesses and officials said. Fifteen cars, including one belonging to a leader of BNP student wing, Shamim Khan, were also damaged during clashes that erupted during the protest against the shifting of a fuel plant. Sources said police swung into action when local people tried to block the highway in the morning to protest a government decision to move NGL Fractionation Plant from Brahmanbaria to Sylhet. “Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters to control the situation. The protesters also pelted the police with stones,” witnesses said. Security has been beefed up in the area.
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