Police dispersed a gathering of protestors by deploying sound grenades in Chittagong on Monday.
The protestors had organized a rally at Cheragi intersection in Chittagong city, alleging involvement in "disappearances, murders, and false cases" while demanding quota reforms across the country.
The protestors took to the streets chanting various slogans at 3:30pm.
Police responded with sound grenades and charged baton to disperse the crowd.
Quota protest: Sust holds protest in front of main gateSeveral people, including journalists, police officers, were injured, and multiple arrests were made before and after the rally.
Earlier, Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi, the coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in Chittagong, announced a rally in front of the Jamal Khan Press Club at 3pm on Monday via a video message in social media.
A significant police presence was observed at various intersections around the rally, including Jamal Khan.
Law enforcement authorities conducted searches in some areas. However, the rally venue was changed to the Cheragi intersection at the last minute.
Protestors, mostly female student, began arriving at the new location after 3pm.
Initially, police tried to persuade them to disperse peacefully, but the protestors sat on the road, chanting slogans for about 20 minutes.
During this time, bricks were reportedly thrown at the police.
Around 4pm, the police lobbed two sound grenades.
Several people, including journalists Azim Aunon from the Daily Banik Barta and Sub-Inspector Mosharraf Hossain of Kotwali police station, were injured.
"The injured policeman was initially taken to Max Hospital. He was then referred to an ophthalmologist and later transferred to Dhaka for better treatment", said Aminul Islam Additional Deputy Commissioner (South) of CMP.
Meanwhile, Police arrested several protestors before and after the rally.
The arrestees included Mohammad Emon, a second-year student in the Engineering Department of Southern University, Azmain Karim Nihal, a Class XI student of Bakalia Government College, Julhaj Hossain of Gachbaria Degree College and Nazrul Islam of Chittagong Law College.
However, the police stated that the individuals were not arrested but taken into custody for investigation and would be released if found uninvolved.
