Drenched in blood: How protests in Bangladesh turned deadly

Anti-government protests in Bangladesh have sparked nationwide clashes between police and university students. At least 150 people were killed, and some of those involved in the bloodshed described to the BBC what happened.

Demonstrators in the capital Dhaka only wanted to hold a peaceful rally but police “ruined” it by attacking them during the rally, a student said.

A student leader recovering in hospital has described how he was blindfolded and tortured by men claiming to be police.

Meanwhile, an emergency doctor said they were overwhelmed when dozens of young people were brought in for treatment with gunshot wounds at the height of the clashes.

Security forces have been accused of using excessive force, but the government blames political opponents for the unrest, which broke out after government job quotas were imposed. Most of them have now been lifted on orders of the Supreme Court.

A nationwide internet blockade has restricted the flow of information in the country since Thursday, and thousands of soldiers are enforcing a curfew.

Limited connectivity was restored on Tuesday night, with priority given to companies such as banks, technology companies and media.

The violence is the most serious challenge to 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina in years. Served as prime minister for the fourth consecutive time.

WARNING: This article contains descriptions of violence that some readers may find distressing.

Raya (pseudonym), a student at the private BRAC University, told BBC Bangla she first attended the protest on Wednesday, July 17, but clashes with police the next day turned “very scary”.

“After 11:30 a.m., the police threw tear gas canisters at the students. At that time, some students picked up the tear gas canisters and threw them back to the police,” she described.

Police later began using rubber bullets, at one point trapping students on campus and even preventing them from taking the seriously injured to the hospital, she said.

In the afternoon, police ordered them to leave.

“That day, we just wanted to have a peaceful rally, but before we could do anything, the police destroyed the entire environment,” Raya said.

Things got even darker on July 19, the day most of the deaths occurred.

By 10:00, hundreds of protesters were clashing with police at Natun Bazaar near Rampura, not far from the usually safe area that is home to numerous embassies. It’s like a war zone now.

Protesters threw bricks and rocks at police, who responded with shotguns, tear gas and sonic grenades, while a helicopter opened fire from the air.

BBC reporters saw fires everywhere, burned and vandalized vehicles left on the streets, barricades set up by police and protesters dismantling barricades, and broken tree limbs strewn across the road.

Police can be seen calling for reinforcements, but ammunition is quickly running out.

By this time, the city’s hospitals were beginning to see large numbers of injured, many arriving on foot covered in blood.

Emergency rooms were overwhelmed with hundreds of patients arriving in a short period of time.

“We transfer seriously injured patients to Dhaka Medical College Hospital because we cannot treat them here,” a doctor told BBC Bangla on condition of anonymity. Most of the victims were shot with rubber bullets, he said.

Another doctor at a government hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said injured patients seemed to be coming in every minute for several hours.

“On Thursday and Friday, most of the patients were shot and injured,” the doctor said. “On Thursday, we performed 30 surgeries per six-hour shift.

“Even for an experienced doctor, this is disturbing… Some of my colleagues and I are very nervous about treating so many young people with injuries.”

The situation took a turn for the worse on Friday night, with the government announcing a nationwide curfew and deploying troops on the streets.

A student leader, Nasheed Islam, went missing after Friday’s violence.

His father said he was taken from a friend’s house at midnight on Friday and reappeared 24 hours later.

Nasheed himself later described how he was picked up by men claiming to be detectives and taken to a room in a house, where he was interrogated and subjected to physical and mental torture.

He said he collapsed and did not regain consciousness until Sunday morning, walking home and going to the hospital for treatment of blood clots in both shoulders and left leg.

Responding to his accusations, Information Minister Mohammed Ali Arafat told the BBC that the incident would be investigated but he suspected it was “sabotage” – an attempt to discredit the police.

“My question is, if someone from the government left, why did they pick him up, detain him for 12 hours and then release him somewhere so he could come back and file a complaint like this?”

There are also questions about the dead, some of whom appear to have no clear connection to the protest movement.

BBC Bangla spoke to relatives of 21-year-old Maruf Hossain, who is looking for work in Dhaka after completing his studies.

His mother said she told him not to go out during the protests, but he was shot in the back while trying to flee the fighting and later died in hospital.

Another person who died was construction worker Selim Mandal, who was trapped in a fire that broke out in the early hours of Sunday after violence broke out at the site where he worked and lived.

His charred body was found along with two other bodies. The cause of the fire is unclear.

Hasib Iqbal, 27, who was killed in the violence, was said to be a member of the protest movement but not deeply involved. His family says he wasn’t really involved, but they’re not sure how he died.

His father was shocked to learn of the death of his son, who was attending Friday prayers. “We were supposed to go to pray together, but since I was a little late, he went to the mosque alone,” Razak told BBC Bangla.

Mr Razak later went out to search for him but found him dead hours later. His death certificate said he died of asphyxiation, but relatives at the funeral found black marks on his chest.

Mr Razak does not plan to complain to the police because “my son will never come back”.

“My only son,” he said, “I never thought I would lose him like this.”