Police said hundreds of opposition activists turned violent.

"They hurled rocks at our officers and became unruly," local police chief Nasir Uddin said, the AFP news agency reports.

"We shot tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the unruly mob. Army officers were also deployed at the scene to prevent further violence."

Soldiers were out "in full force", a cameraman for Reuters news agency reported, chasing away "violent activists, training guns at Dhaka's Shyamoli area".

Most traffic was off the roads and schools and businesses were shut in the capital.

The leader of the Awami League party, Sheikh Hasina has said the current election schedule is unacceptable because the voter list is yet to be finalised.

Thursday is the last day for submitting nomination papers under the current election schedule.

The interim government has made new concessions to persuade the Awami League and its allies to participate in next month's election.

Election commissioner, SM Zakaria, has been requested to go "on leave" between now and the vote. The Awami League and its allies argued that he was biased against them.

The government has said the election commission was also updating the voter list to make it free from flaws as demanded by the Awami League and its allies.