At least 23 people were killed and more than 2,500 were injured in today's nationwide clashes between protesters and law enforcers and ruling party men.

Of them, 18 were in Dhaka. Clashes killed at least six people including a journalist today in the Jatrabari-Shanir Akhra area, eight in Dhaka's Uttara and nearby areas, two in Badda, one each in Dhanmondi and Savar.

At least five people were killed outside the capital -- two each in Chattogram and Narsingdi and one in Madaripur.

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Quota protest: At least 23 killed across country

A vehicle of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was set on fire at Hatijheel in the capital.

The vehicle was set on fire by the protesting students around 6:00pm, reports UNB.

Forty to fifty BGB members came out of the the vehicle before the protesters set fire to it.

2 killed in clash with police in Ctg

Two people were killed and nine others injured in a clash between quota reform protesters and police in Bahaddarhat area of Chattogram city this evening.

Identifies of the deceased could not be known immediately, reports our Chattogram staff correspondent.

Tuhin Shubhro Das, emergency medical officer at Chattogram Medical College Hospital, said two people with bullet wounds were brought to the CMCH.

One succumbed to his injuries around 6:30pm while another died there around 7:00pm.

The Police Headquarters (PHQ) in a statement today said rumours are being spread regarding the hacking of the official website of Bangladesh Police.

All are requested not to be misled by these rumours, it added.

The US has reiterated calls on Bangladesh government to uphold the rights of individuals to protest peacefully amid the nationwide ongoing quota reforms protests.

"We continue to monitor the violence that broke out during the student protests in Dhaka and continue to urge that protests be peaceful and continue to condemn any violence against peaceful protests," said Matthew Miller, spokesperson at the State Department in Washington DC early today.

Police fired tear gas shells and lobbed sound grenades in Dhaka's Palashi area to disperse the quota reform protesters this afternoon.

When the student demonstrators tried to march through Palashi from the Azimpur area around 5:10pm, police chased them and attacked them with tear gas shells and sound grenades.

As the protesters began dispersing, Chhatra League and Jubo League members attacked them with bamboo sticks and iron rods in the Chapra Mosque area, reports our Dhaka University correspondent from the spot.

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Police and BCL, Jubo League men attack students in Palashi

The website of Bangladesh Chhatra League (bsl.org.bd), appeared to be hacked today.

The landing page of the website, instead of the usual information about BCL and its activities, features a visual with pictures of unnamed individuals, followed by a series of messages about the ongoing quota reform protests.

The website was in this state as of 5:30pm.

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Bangladesh Chhatra League website hacked

The HSC and equivalent examinations of all education boards scheduled for July 21, 23, and 25 have been postponed.

The schedule for the postponed examinations will be notified later.

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HSC, equivalent exams for July 21, 23, 25 postponed

Metro rail operation will be suspended from 5:30pm today "due to unavoidable circumstances", metro rail authorities said.

The last metro train will leave Motijheel station at 5:30pm, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) said in its official Facebook post.

Farhan Faiyaaz

A student of Dhaka Residential Model College was killed during a clash between quota protestors and police along with Jubo league men in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area today.

The deceased was identified as Farhan Faiyaaz, 17.

20, including cops, injured in Pabna

At least 20 people including seven policemen were injured in a clash between quota protesters and policemen at Pabna Bus Terminal around 2:30pm.

Of the injured, a police constable was severely injured.

The agitating protesters vandalised six motorcycles of BCL activists, our Pabna correspondent reports.

Police lobbed several teargas shells and sound grenades and fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka today advised the Indian community members and students in Bangladesh to avoid travel and minimise their movement outside their residences due to the ongoing anti-quota protests.

Clashes broke out between the quota protesters on one side, and activists of Jubo League and Chhatra League and the police on the other in Dhanmondi-27 area in Dhaka this afternoon.

Some police personnel who got stranded inside Canadian International University in Dhaka's Badda area during the student demonstration were airlifted by a Rapid Action Battalion chopper this afternoon.

Being chased by the quota protesters, a group of law enforcers entered the university and stayed there for a while, said witnesses.

The Rab chopper was seen flying in and then airlifting the policemen through the university roof, they said.

Three protesters arrested in Chattogram

Police this morning arrested three protesters from the Chattogram city’s Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge area following a clash between the two groups.

One of the arrestees was identified as Nazmul Hasan, 24, student of Govt City College, Chattogram, said police.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (south) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police Ashraful Alam said Jamaat-Shibir men, disguised as quota reform activists, were trying to create anarchy on the streets. 

Police dispersed them after they blocked Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway, he said .

“We have detained three of them on the spot,” he added.

A student was killed today in Savar during a clash between quota protesters on one side and police and activists of Awami League and its associate bodies on the other.

4 killed in clash between police and quota protesters in Uttara

At least four people were killed during a clash between quota protesters and police in Dhaka's Uttara today.

A clash broke out at Bahaddarhat in Chattogram between quota protesters and police around 3:30pm. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells to control the situation, our staff correspondent reports.

Rail communication between Dhaka and most parts of the country was snapped after students protesting the quota system blocked the Mohakhali level crossing in the capital this noon.

Protesting students set the Bangladesh Television Centre at Rampura on fire this afternoon.

Now 2 DU students file leave to appeal petition with SC to scrap HC verdict

Two Dhaka University students today filed a leave to appeal petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the High Court judgement, which on June 5 effectively reinstated quotas in government jobs.

Quota protestors withdrew the blockade from the Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge in Chattogram city around 3:00pm after one and a half hours.
Vehicular movement halted following the blockade started again. 

50 injured in Dinajpur clash between students and AL men

At least 50 people were injured during sporadic clashes between quota protesters and activists of Awami League and its student wing Chhatra League in Dinajpur town around 1:00pm.

Two offices of Dinajpur district unit and Sadar upazila unit of Awami League at Basunia Potti were vandalised and at least 15 motorcycles were torched during the clash, our local correspondent reports.

The protesters also tried to set fire to the AL offices around 1:30pm.

Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Shah Ifftekhar Ahmed said that at least five to six police personnel sustained injuries during the clashes.

Law Minister Anisul Huq today said the government is ready to hold talks with the quota reformists.

"Government has agreed to hold talks with the quota reformists," he told journalists at a press briefing at Jatiya Sangsad premises.

Metro rail service has been disrupted as the authorities have closed down its operation from Pallabi to Shewrapara due to a fire incident near Mirpur-10 station, officials said.

As part of the announced countrywide "complete shutdown" from dawn to dusk today, students demanding quota system reform from several colleges and universities took to the streets in Dhaka's Uttara.

Their protest turned violent when police intervened to disperse them, leading to clashes.

At least six individuals, including five police personnel, were injured in a clash between quota protesters on one side, and Chhatra League activists and police on the other in Natore.

The clash occurred at the press club premises of Natore city around 11:00am this morning.

Mobile internet services were blocked due to the current situation in the country, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for telecom and ICT.

There was no preannouncement for the mobile internet shut down, he said.

Clash breaks out between students and police, activists in Dhanmondi 27

Violent clashes broke out between students of various nearby institutions and police on the Dhanmondi 27 no. road around 12:00pm.

A procession of school and college students wearing uniforms entered the road from the Mirpur Road side, when police fired tear shells.

Around an hour later, activists donning motorcycle helmets chanting “Joy Bangla” attacked the students who had remained in the area with sticks and rods, chasing them into taking shelter in nearby buildings.
 

A man was killed and over 100 others, mostly students, were injured during clashes between police and private university students in Badda and Rampura area.

Parts of Dhaka wore an almost deserted look today with city streets remaining empty, as fear gripped people following students' enforcement of a "complete shutdown" across the country.

BCL and Jubo League men bring out motorcycle showdown

Around one hundred BCL and Jubo League activists, carrying sticks and wearing helmets, rode in a procession of motorcycles from Science Lab to the Kalabagan intersection. Activists exploded crude bombs in several areas, causing panic among locals.

Police were present but took no action.

A clash broke out between police and protesters in the capital's Science Lab area this noon.

The clash began at 12:52pm in the Science Lab intersection area.

Road communication between Dhaka and the rest of the country remains suspended since this morning following the "complete shutdown" enforced by protesting students.

Students demonstrating for quota reform have chased away the Awami League activists, who were holding a rally, from Mirpur-10 intersection around 11:30am today.

Our staff correspondent reported from the spot that the Awami League leaders and activists were holding this rally in protest of the "anarchy created by anti-independence forces riding on the back of the anti-quota movement."

As rally was going on and leaders were speaking over the loudspeaker, around a hundred students from different colleges arrived there and drove them away.

A clash took place between the students of BRAC University and police in Dhaka's Badda area this morning.

The protesters torched 12 motorcycles and the office of the assistant commissioner (traffic) of Rampura zone police box.

Multiple confrontations between quota protesters and police have been taking part in Dhaka's Shanir Akhra and Jatrabari areas from morning today.

The clashes began at 8:00am when police engaged with demonstrators at Shanir Akhra, a situation that shows no signs of abating three hours later.

As tension reaches unpredictable heights in Bangladesh amid the quota reform protest movement across the country, reports about the violent clashes between students and Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists have reached media portals worldwide. Indian celebrities in Kolkata are showing their support for the Bangladeshi students on social media.

Mobile users across the country reported being unable to use mobile internet and access their social media accounts amid widespread violence centring the quota reform movement.

To maintain law and order, a total of 229 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed across the country.

Shariful islam, public relations officer of BGB, said that the BGB was deployed to keep law and order normal amid "complete shutdown".

Why was Abu Sayed of Rangpur's Begum Rokeya University shot down by police? He was standing alone, totally unarmed with arms stretched out, holding no weapons but a stick. Nor was he engaged in any violent activities. When he was shot, he posed no threat to police and was standing quite a distance away, which an eye-estimate suggests could be about 50-60 feet. Yet police shot him in cold blood.

All Indian Visa Application Centres (IVAC) will be closed today due to the unstable situation centring the ongoing student movement demanding quota reform in government jobs, according to IVAC press release.

A stretch of nearly 10 kilometres of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway from Kanchpur Bridge to Jatrabari intersection remains blocked this morning, amid the clashes between police and quota reform activists at Shanir Akhra since yesterday afternoon.

Thousands of vehicles were stuck on both sides of the highway, while filing this report at 10:00am, causing immense suffering of passengers.

Minister for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Wednesday said digital media, including social media platforms like Facebook, should be held accountable to prevent rumours and misinformation.

He made this remark while answering questions from journalists on contemporary issues at the end of a seminar held at a hotel in Dhaka.

Outgoing Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley has said all friends and partners of Bangladesh want to see a quick resolution of the present situation and the avoidance of further violence and bloodshed.

The US Embassy in Dhaka today issued a "demonstration alert" for its citizens living in Dhaka and across the country saying the situation is extremely volatile.

Leaders and activists of different associate bodies of ruling Awami League strengthened their position at several entry points outside the Dhaka University campus.

Till filing of this report around midnight, some of them were seen patrolling on bikes.

Tension is prevailing on the Rajshahi University (RU) campus since yesterday evening following a clash between police and quota protesters.

Until the filing of this report at 11:55pm, many students were seen leaving the campus.

Around 7:30pm last night, police rescued RU Vice-Chancellor Prof Golam Sabbir Sattar from the administrative building, dispersing the agitating students.

Electricity supply was cut off at Jahangirnagar University halls this night spreading fear of a crackdown among students.

The electricity went off around 10:30pm and was still disconnected at the time of filing of this report at 11:35pm, reports our Savar correspondent.

However, there was electricity in the Dairy Farm area, opposite the campus.