29 bodies of Sheikh Hasina’s party leaders found in violence-hit Bangladesh

Mangalore Today News Network

Dhaka, August 7, 2024: Bodies of 29 leaders of the Awami League and their family members were recovered across violence-hit Bangladesh on Tuesday after Sheikh Hasina quit as Prime Minister and left for India amid protests by students over a controversial quota system that spiralled into widespread calls for the 76-year-old leader’s resignation.

At least 10 people were killed in violence in Satkhira after Hasina’s resignation and departure on Monday. Houses and business establishments belonging to several Awami League leaders were vandalised and looted, The Dhaka Tribune reported.

In Cumilla, at least 11 people were killed in attacks by mobs. Six people died as a three-storey house of former councillor Mohammad Shah Alam was set on fire by miscreants.

Five teenagers were among the 11 bodies that were recovered from the house on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

On Monday, a mob attacked the house of Shah Alam and some people climbed to the third floor of the house, according to eyewitnesses. The mob set fire to the ground floor of the house.

Later, the people who took shelter on the third floor of the house died after inhaling smoke and were burnt to death.

The attack also injured 10 people, of which one of them was undergoing treatment in the ICU.

Meanwhile, four people died after a mob set on fire the house of an MP Shafiqul Islam Shimul on Tuesday. Their bodies were found in several rooms, balconies and roofs of the house.

Locals found the bodies of two leaders of Jubo League, the youth wing of Awami League. Of them, the body of Juba League leader Mushfiqur Rahim was found under a bridge in Sonagazi Upazila, according to The Dhaka Tribune.

In Bogra, a mob hacked two Jubo League leaders to death.

On Monday, locals found six bodies from the house of district Awami League Joint General Secretary Suman Khan that was set on fire by a mob in Lalmonirhat on Monday.

The situation in Bangladesh remains volatile with deaths due to the unrest surpassing 400, and Sheikh Hasina hiding in India after fleeing Bangladesh under an hour after resigning from her post.

Hundreds of Hindu houses, businesses and temples have been burnt and vandalised since Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. India said it was worried about the incidents, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying the ministry was monitoring the situation.

Amid the protests, Bangladesh got its interim government on Tuesday after Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named the chief adviser of the same. Known as the ’banker of the poor’, 84-year-old Yunus was the top choice of the protesting students for the job, and his appointment came following a crucial meeting chaired by President Mohammed Shahabuddin.