Police used water cannons and fired sound grenades to disperse dismissed members of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now known as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and their family members after they blocked the road in front of Kakrail Mosque on Monday morning.
Witnesses said the dismissed BDR personnel and their families have been demonstrating in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh for over two weeks, pressing a three-point demand that includes reinstatement of their jobs and renaming BGB back to BDR. Many BDR members and their family members also joined the protest in the morning.
Around 11:15am, the protesters began marching towards Jamuna via Matsya Bhaban. Police initially tried to intercept them near Shahbagh, but they continued moving forward, witnesses said.
A police team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Division, Masud Alam, set up a barricade near Matsya Bhaban, but the protesters broke through and continued towards Kakrail.
As additional police forces blocked the road leading to Jamuna, the demonstrators began protesting at the Kakrail intersection and blocked the road in the area.
