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Sunday 3 March 2013 - 10:02

Bangladesh tightens security amid violence in north

Story Code : 243870
Bangladesh tightens security amid violence in north
The Bangladeshi government stepped up security on Sunday. The troops were deployed in the town of Shah-jahanpur.
 
On Saturday, police fired dozens of shots at supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, who had gathered in Chittagong district, southeast of the capital, Dhaka, killing three of them.
 
A young protester was also shot dead after security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators in Nilphamari district, northwest of Dhaka.
 
Nearly 50 people have been killed in the clashes with police over the past four days.
 
A spate of violent clashes erupted in Bangladesh soon after the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, to death for committing crimes during the country’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
 
The tribunal is trying nine leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami party and two members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The two parties have called for a two-day nationwide strike on Sunday and Monday.
 
The assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Abdul Quader Molla, has also been sentenced to life in prison.
 
The Bangladeshi government denies allegations that the tribunal has been held on trumped-up charges.
 
Rights groups say the legal procedures in Bangladesh fall short of international standards.
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