Riot police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells at rival political activists in Dhaka who faced-off on Tuesday leaving dozens injured.

Hundreds of candidates filed nomination papers for the January 22 general elections in Bangladesh.

The activists attacked each other with bamboo sticks, hurled stones, smashed cars and torched a motorbike.

This prompting the police to fire rubber bullets to stop the nearly hour-long violence at the election office in central Dhaka as the election commission's final deadline for filing of nominations expired on Tuesday.

Police and eyewitnesses said the clash erupted as media tycoon Mosaddek Ali of ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Haji Selim of former premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed's Awami League arrived near-simultaneously to file nomination papers with a large number of drum-beating and sloganeering supporters in tow.

Street protests

Television channels reported similar clashes in northern Netrokona and Natore districts where, according to police, another 58 people were wounded in the pre-poll clashes.

The AL-led "mega alliance" and BNP-led four-party today finalised decisions on seat-sharing following Sheikh Hasina's decision to join the polls after protracted street protests.

The Awami League combine has accused the interim government of President Iajuddin Ahmed of rigging the polls.

Under the seat sharing, Sheikh Hasina would contest from four constituencies while her crucial allies, former military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad of Jatiya Party is to vie for five seats and ex-president Badruddoza Chowdhury of Liberal Democratic Party will compete for two seats.