Riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at opposition protesters on Tuesday, the third day of a general strike in Bangladesh, as tensions rose before a court ruling on a 2009 mutiny. Police said a supporter of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was hacked to death in the western town of Magura, and scores including a city mayor were injured just outside the capital Dhaka. A senior police officer was also seriously injured by a small bomb in the capital’s Hazaribagh area, during a series of clashes nationwide. “Hit by seven splinters, the officer was rushed to hospital. He is seriously injured but now out of danger,” Maruf Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka police, said. At least 17 people have been killed since Friday when the opposition began a push to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit. After a series of mass rallies at the weekend, the BNP and its allies enforced a three-day general strike which ends later Tuesday. But this is unlikely to ease tensions. A court in Dhaka is due to give its verdict Wednesday on 823 soldiers accused of taking part in a mass mutiny in 2009 soon after Hasina came to power. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, who has twice served as premier, has long been seen as close to the military. Her husband was a former army chief who became president in 1977 in the aftermath of a coup.
