Post-election violence in Bangladesh leaves 3 dead, dozens wounded: Official

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - At least three people have been killed and nearly 50 injured in post-election violence in Bangladesh, an official said on Monday.

The South Asian delta nation of 170 million people held the fourth phase of its nationwide local elections on Sunday.

“Supporters of the ruling Awami League party-backed candidates and opposition candidates involved in serious clashes in many areas and we fled the voting centers seeing the chaos,” Md. Khaled Mosharraf, a voter in the southern Patuakhali district, told Anadolu Agency.

Requesting anonymity, an election commission official told Anadolu Agency: “We have received reports of three deaths from three different districts.”

According to police sources, law enforcers have detained more than 100 people from different areas of the country on suspicion of having been involved in election violence.

A total of 70 people have been killed and several hundred wounded in the pre- and post-polls violence since the first phase of elections that was held on June 21, according to local media reports.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Election Commissioner Begum Kabita Khanam said that they would investigate all reported incidents of violence and take action as per law.

Badiul Alam Majumdar, an economist and political analyst, however, told Anadolu Agency that the country's election authorities have failed to ensure a peaceful environment in the elections.

“If authorities had taken actions against the violators from the very beginning, the situation would have been better today,” he added.