Hadi death: Inqilab Mancha protesters injured after clash with police outside Yunus' residence in Bangladesh

Police in Bangladesh clashed with protesters from the Inqilab Mancha on Friday, leaving at least 50 activists injured after they attempted to defy a ban on demonstrations while demanding immediate justice for the killing of their leader, Sharif Osman Hadi, last year.

The confrontation erupted when protesters tried to break through security barricades outside the Jamuna residence of interim government chief Muhammad Yunus. Dhaka police responded with batons, sound grenades, and water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Witnesses said police in riot gear took strong action as protesters attempted to push past security barricades near Jamuna after moving from a nearby sit-in, defying a previously announced ban on demonstrations in the area.

Media reports said the police response left more than 50 protesters injured, including Inqilab Mancha member-secretary Abdullah Al Zaber.

In protest against the police action, activists of the cultural group blocked a nearby major intersection in the capital's central Shahbagh area, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Dhaka metropolitan police, in a statement, said the protesters were dispersed in a "fully lawful" manner and no lethal weapons or gunfire were used for it.

After the clash, Yunus' office binned reports of "excessive use of force" against the protestors.

"According to information received from doctors at the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, 23 people, including Inqilab Mancha secretary-general Abdullah Al Zaber, received treatment there. But the doctors confirmed that none of them received bullet wounds," the government statement said.

The Inqilab Mancha's attempt to break through the barricades of Jamuna came despite an announcement by Yunus' office earlier on Thursday that it would propose a UN investigation into Hadi's murder.

Yunus' press secretary Shafiqul Alam said the government would ask the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to take charge of the inquiry to ensure full impartiality and justice.

In its statement following the clashes, Yunus' office reiterated that the interim government was "deeply reviewing the legal aspects" of the UN investigation and would send a letter to the concerned UN agency on February 8.

The government earlier observed a day of mourning for "martyr" Hadi, and law adviser Asif Nazrul said the murder case would be transferred to a fast-track tribunal under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act that stipulates trials to be completed within 90 days once the police report is submitted.

The Jamuna is secured by army personnel armed with guns and supported by armoured personnel carriers (APCs), along with police forces. As an added measure to prevent any escalation of tensions, the government on Friday deployed six platoons, around 180 personnel, of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to strengthen the security presence.

He was shot in the capital on December 12 while campaigning and later died from his injuries.

Hours after Hadi's death in December, his supporters set alight the offices of two mass circulation newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo as well as the over half-century-old progressive cultural groups Chayanat and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi in the capital. They also lynched a Hindu factory worker in central Mymensingh.

Last month, Hadi's brother Omar Hadi told a protest rally that a section within the interim government plotted the killing to derail the February 12 polls.

"Those who are in power when Osman Hadi was killed, you won't be able to evade the responsibility," Omar had said.

The government allotted Taka 2 crore (USD 20 million) to assist Hadi’s family and appointed his elder brother, Abu Bakar Siddiq, as a second secretary at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Birmingham, UK.