2 dead, dozens injured in Bangladesh clashes

DHAKA, Jan. 5 (NsNewsWire) — Two people were killed in a violent  clash between ruling Bangladesh Awami League party and its main opponent ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) men  in Natore district, some 210 northwest of capital Dhaka, on Monday morning.
Tense political standoff over the opposition alliance’s demand for a fresh polls under a non-party caretaker government system culminated with both the ruling and opposition parties calling rallies on Jan. 5 in Dhaka to stage showdown.
Paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) soldiers were deployed in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country to thwart any untoward incident over the opposition’s plans to hold rallies defying police bans.
Bangladesh Police have imposed an indefinite ban on meetings, processions and rallies in capital Dhaka from Sunday evening, a step the opposition described as an attempt to mute dissenting voices.
Tension has been prevailing across Bangladesh due to the political anarchy and confrontation centring the counter programmes declared by Awami League and BNP.