Anti-rape protest clash: Police say they repelled protesters after being attacked, media hid real incident

Police officials repelled protesters after being attacked during yesterday's an anti-rape protest in Dhaka, the Police Headquarters said, claiming that the media hid the real incident by "publishing fragmented news and images".

In a statement today (12 March), the Police Headquarters sought "reasonable role" from the media while covering such incidents.

"Watching the video footage of yesterday's incident in front of the InterContinmental, it is clear that the police repelled the agitated protesters after they attacked them. But this fact has been hidden in the images published [in various media outlets]. Publishing such fragmented news and images hiding the real incident are by no means expected. We expect a responsible role from the media," reads the statement.

Yesterday afternoon, a group of about 60/70 people under the platform 'Bangladesh against Rape and Atrocities' tried to march towards the official residence of the chief adviser, Jamuna.

Police stopped the march at the Hotel InterContinental intersection due to the security of important state installations nearby. At that time, the protesters tried to break the police barricade and move towards the Jamuna.

The police repeatedly requested the protesters to calm down in order to ensure smooth movement of traffic to ease the sufferings of homebound people during the holy month of Ramadan, the police said in the statement.

But they did not respond to the police's call, the police said, rather they attacked the on-duty policemen with sticks and brickbats.

In the attack, at least five policemen including Ramna Division Deputy Police Commissioner Md Masud Alam and Assistant Commissioner Abdullah Al Mamun were injured. Mamun was seriously injured in the incident, adds the statement.