1 dead, dozens injured in blockade clashes in Bangladesh

Paramilitary troops fired live rounds on Wednesday evening in clashes with opposition protesters in southeastern Bangladesh, killing at least one and injuring dozens. "Faruk Hossain Patowari, the youth wing activist of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died of gun shot wound on the way to hospital," a police official told Xinhua from Chandpur district, some 115 km southeast of Dhaka. The official who refused to be named said clashes erupted after pro-blockade activists attacked paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) soldiers in a patrol car. BGB personnel returned fire to quell unruly protesters, he said. At least 25 people including law enforcers were injured in the clashes in Chandpur, the stronghold of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP which launched an indefinite blockade from Wednesday morning to put pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina' s government to scrap the parliamentary polls slated for Jan. 5. Wednesday's blockade came after the end of the opposition's two- day "March for Democracy" on Monday. Khaleda Zia's opposition alliance had earlier enforced blockade of transport for a total of 22 days since Nov. 26 after the Election Commission announced schedule for the 10th parliamentary polls. BNP and its 17 allies are boycotting the elections, demanding polls under a non-party caretaker government. Khaleda Zia has asked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to bring back a non-party caretaker system to ensure free and fair elections.