A doctor at a hospital said that at least five people were killed and dozens wounded by police gunfire in eastern Bangladesh on Saturday as security forces tried to quell protests over the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hundreds of yeshiva students clashed with police and border forces in the eastern Brahmanbaria region. Police said they had to shoot to bring the violence under control.
Many Muslim groups in Bangladesh accuse Modi of marginalizing the Muslim minority in India, which is predominantly Hindu. The two countries issued a joint statement celebrating their cooperation and partnership, but the Bangladeshi government did not comment on the protests.
"We received three bodies that were shot and killed later," Abdullah al-Maamoun, a doctor at the government-run Brahmanbaria General Hospital, told Reuters.
A local policeman confirmed the deaths of five, but requested that his name not be published as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Bangladeshi police have not officially confirmed the death toll.
Protests have erupted across Bangladesh against Modi and also over police killing Islamists, who demonstrated against his two-day visit.
Four supporters of the Guardians of Islam group were killed on Friday after police opened fire when protesters were said to have attacked a police station in the southeastern city of Chittagong.
Dozens of people were also injured in the capital Dhaka on Friday when police used rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes with protesters.
Today, Saturday, hundreds of members of the Guardians of Islam and other Islamic groups gathered in the cities of Chittagong and Dhaka to protest the killing of their supporters.
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