Over 900 inmates of the Narshingdi district jail broke free on Friday as complete anarchy descended on the district, where angry protesters set government offices on fire, blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway and confined local ruling Awami League leaders to their residences.
The jail break occurred around 4:00pm amidst a frenzied demonstration going on in front of the jail located along Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
The inmates set fire to the jail before breaking its main entrance and taking out the inmates in scores.
Additional District Magistrate Tajwad Akram Ibne Sazzad said that the jail authorities informed him about the break seeking help saying that the inmates all were escaping.
Journalists present near the jail at the time of the聽 incident heard the jail authorities radioing an appeal to the local police for help.
But the police said that they were unable to send help.
鈥榃e were busy tackling the protester when the jail break occurred and in no position to help,鈥� said Samiul Haque, officer-in-charge of the Narshingdi Sadar police station.聽聽
The scene of the jail break was also the epicentre of the district鈥檚 protest, where thousands of demonstrators thronged and fought pitched battles with the law enforcers.
By the afternoon the law enforcers retreated from the scene swarmed by thousands of people on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway.
The three-storied jail is just a few hundred feet from the highway.聽聽聽聽
Earlier in the day, around 2:30pm, angry demonstrators swooped on the Madhabdi police station. At least 20 people were injured as police fired rubber bullets while tackling the attack that lasted for an hour.
The protesters also set the Zila Parishad office building in Narshingdi on fire.
Madhabdi municipality mayor Mosharraf Hossain Prodhan, who is also the general secretary of the upazila AL unit, was confined to his residence around 7:00pm.
The protesters said that the AL leader unleashed a reign of misrule in the area and that they wished him to pay for his misdeeds.
Hundreds of protesters were surrounding the AL leader鈥檚 house with no police to be seen around to come in his protection.
The unrest in Narshingdi is the result of the ongoing quota reform movement that raged through Bangladesh.聽
At least two students were killed in Narshingdi in the ongoing quota reform movement on Thursday.