Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has issued an explanation regarding the police action to disperse a gathering of government primary school assistant teachers demonstrating at Shahbagh over various demands.
In a press release on Saturday afternoon, DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media and Public Relations) Muhammad Talebur Rahman said a group of protesting teachers had assembled at the Central Shaheed Minar earlier in the day. Around 3pm, some of them gathered in front of Shahbagh Police Station to symbolically surrender their pens. At about 4pm, a section of the protesters broke through police barricades and attempted to march toward the state guesthouse Jamuna.
When police intervened, the protesters reportedly threw bricks and stones, injuring several officers. To disperse the crowd, police fired several rounds of sound grenades and used water cannons.
The DMP statement noted that gatherings, rallies, and public assemblies have been banned around the Jamuna State Guesthouse and its surrounding areas, but the protesters ignored the restrictions and tried to advance.
Police said the action was necessary to maintain order and ensure the security of important state establishments.
The DMP official urged everyone to comply with restrictions imposed in certain areas of the capital in the interest of public safety and law and order.
