DHAKA – Ten people were killed in election-related violence in Bangladesh Sunday as voters went to the polls following a campaign marred by deadly clashes and a crackdown on the opposition by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Two men were shot by police while three others were killed in separate clashes between activists from the ruling Awami League Party and the main Bangladesh Nationalist Party opposition (BNP).
Voting is being held under tight security until 4:00 pm (1000 GMT) in a parliamentary election that
is expected to deliver a historic but tainted fourth victory for Hasina.
Bangladesh’s leader has been lauded for boosting economic growth in the poor Asian nation during
an unbroken decade in power and for welcoming Rohingya refugees fleeing a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.
But critics accuse her of growing authoritarianism and crippling the opposition — including arch-rival Khaleda Zia who is serving 17 years in prison on graft charges she says are politically motivated — in a bid to cling on to power.
The weeks-long election campaign was marred by violence between supporters of her Awami League and activists from the BNP, led by Zia.
Some 600,000 security personnel were deployed across the South Asian country, including at 40,000 polling stations, in a bid to prevent skirmishes.
Authorities have also ordered the country’s mobile operators to shut down 3G and 4G services until midnight on Sunday “to prevent the spread of rumours” that could trigger unrest.
The election-day deaths bring to nine the number of people confirmed by police to have been killed
since the ballot was announced on November 8, marking the country’s 11th parliamentary election since
independence in 1971.
Police said they acted “in self-defense” in the southern town of Bashkhali, when they opened fire on opposition supporters who had attempted to storm a polling booth, killing one.
In a separate incident, another man was shot by police after he tried to steal a ballot box.
