Over 200 convicts managed to escape from the high security prison in the east of Bangladesh, local news portal Jago News reported on Wednesday.
"A mass jailbreak occurred at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur, where 209 prisoners managed to escape, and six were shot dead during the incident," the news portal stated.
According to Jago News, "Senior Jail Superintendent Subrata Kumar Bala confirmed the breakout, stating that the inmates revolted on Tuesday afternoon, August 6, attempting to break out of the facility. When prison guards intervened, the prisoners turned violent and attacked them."
"The situation escalated, prompting the army to launch a commando operation to regain control and suppress the rebellion," Subrata Kumar Bala stated adding that "209 prisoners managed to flee over the prison wall."
Jago News also reported that "six of the escapees were killed in the ensuing gunfire" and their bodies were "sent to Gazipur Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations."
The reported massive jailbreak took place amid the violent anti-government protests in the country.
Protesters took to the streets across Bangladeshi cities in early July, demanding the abolition of job quotas for the relatives of participants in the 1971 war of independence. Students insisted this system was discriminatory. Almost 32 million youths in the country of over 170 million are unemployed or have no professional education.
The situation in the republic gradually escalated, with protests turning into violence. At least 10,000 people have been arrested since the riots erupted, The Daily Star reported.
AFP said earlier, citing data from police and health officials, that over 350 people have been killed in protests since July. Meanwhile, India Today television said, citing unofficial sources, that between 1,000 and 1,400 people may have been killed.
On Monday, thousands flooded the streets of Dhaka and other large cities in Bangladesh. Protesters raided the residence of Premier Sheikh Hasina after she resigned and fled the country, smashed a statue of the country’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, set fire to a museum dedicated to him, broke into the parliament building and the office of the ruling Awami League party, attacked the homes of members of this political group, police stations, a prison and the offices of major television channels.
More than 100 people have died in clashes and fires over the past day.
On Tuesday, the leaders of the Anti-discrimination Students' Movement who organized mass protests in Bangladesh called for a stop to the violence.
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