Bangladesh protest over COVID curbs turns violent, three shot

Demonstrators attack police station in rural Bangladesh, at least three people shot, say officials.

A protest over police enforcement of coronavirus restrictions in rural Bangladesh turned violent when a mob of demonstrators attacked a police station, resulting in at least three people being shot, police and a doctor said. The incident took place late on Monday in the central town of Saltha in the Faridpur district where, according to the police, rumours had spread about a man being injured in a police sweep of a market aimed at enforcing health measures to curb the spread of COVID. Thousands of villagers took to the streets in anger. A group of them hurled bricks at a police station and vandalised government offices in the town, torching an officer’s home and two cars belonging to government officials, police said.