At least 10 people have been injured as police thwarted an attempt to besiege the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources by the Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) in Dhaka on Sunday (Jul 14).
A platform of eight left parties, LDA claimed their activists were injured while they were approaching the Secretariat with a procession peacefully.
A scuffle with the police took place between 1pm and 1:15pm on Sunday after the activists of Left Democratic Alliance removed barricades set up on the road stretching towards the Secretariat from Jatiya Press Club.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Ramna Zone) Mohammad Azimul Haq said the Secretariat area is restricted for any sort of demonstration.
That is why they were barred from entering the area, he said.
Earlier, the alliance held a rally in front of the press club protesting against the recent gas price hike.
The alliance said it would declare its next course of action by holding a press conference on July 19 in the capital.
On Jul 7, the left alliance observed an eight-hour general strike in protest at the increase in the price of gas.
The alliance called the shutdown program on Jul 1, a day after natural gas prices were raised.
The government raised natural gas prices, effective from Jul 1, in eight categories, including household users, despite persistent opposition from consumer rights groups.
According to the latest announcement of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), the new weighted average price of gas at the consumer level is set at Tk 9.8 per cubic foot, a 32% increase from Tk 7.38.