A protest demanding Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin's resignation ended in clashes with riot police as demonstrators tried to storm his residence. Thirty people were injured. Though Shahabuddin holds largely ceremonial powers, he played a key role in the August student revolution that ousted ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.
Shahabuddin announced that his one-time ally had quit on the day she fled Bangladesh for India, paving the way for the caretaker administration. However, things changed last week when he told the local media that he had not actually seen a written letter from Hasina to that effect -- raising the prospect that her resignation was unlawful.
On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside Shahabuddin's compound in Dhaka and accused him of loyalty to Hasina and her Awami League party. They also demanded that he should step down
"Since the student-led protest toppled the fascist regime, there shouldn't be a president from that regime," Faruk Hossain, a student leader at the protest, told AFP, adding, "He must be replaced by a people's president."
Several hundred protesters tried to breach the security cordon and storm the compound just before midnight on Wednesday. Dhaka police deputy commissioner Talebur Rahman reported that at least 25 officers were injured by the protesters.
"Nine are still undergoing treatment. The protesters threw stones and attacked them indiscriminately," he told AFP and added, "The situation is now calm, and there is adequate security in place."
Another five people were treated at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, police official Md Faruq told AFP.
Local media reports said that number included three protesters and two journalists.
Several top officials, including Supreme Court justices and the country's central bank chief, seen as Hasina loyalists, were purged from their positions after her ouster. Their departures usually followed student-led protests outside their homes or offices.
