Bangla cops clash with protesters during strike- The Times of India

DHAKA: Riot police used tear gas and batons on Tuesday to break up hundreds of opposition activists trying to march during a general strike to demand the government's ouster, witnesses said.

Police intervened when about 1,000 protesters tried to march into Dhaka's central Mahakhali district. Several people were injured.

The violence broke out as a 36-hour, anti-government general strike hit Bangladeshi cities and towns Tuesday. The 14-party opposition alliance, led by the Awami League party, is demanding electoral reform and that the government resign.

It also called the strike to protest a police crackdown on their supporters Sunday when anti-government street demonstrations turned violent. At least 200 people, including several policemen, were wounded in the clashes on Sunday on Dhaka's outskirts, witnesses and news reports said.

The strike from dawn Tuesday until sundown Wednesday shut down shops and schools and disrupted public transportation in Dhaka and more than 60 other cities and towns, private United News of Bangladesh reported.

In the capital, Dhaka, commuters used mostly tricycle rickshaws the strike supporters allowed to operate. A few state-run buses also operated in defiance of the strike.

Bangladesh authorities ordered riot police and paramilitary troops onto the streets to curb violence. More than 10,000 police were deployed to guard main roads and public buildings in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, a police statement said. General strikes are a common opposition tactic.