At least six people were killed and 100 others injured in fierce street battles yesterday between Islamic extremists and police in eastern Brahmanbaria town crippled by a day-long strike. Violence erupted as riot police, backed by paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), swung into action when Islamic zealots took to the street at around 10.30 am protesting the arrest of their leaders and demanding a ban on Non-Government Organisation activities and cancellation of the recent High Court verdict against "fatwa" (religious edicts).

Eyewitnesses said police used hundreds of tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and opened fire to quell the violent agitators, leaving six people dead. Unofficial sources claimed the death toll was as high as nine. Some 25 seriously wounded people were admitted to hospital and clinics. Hospital officials said the toll might rise further. "The situation is tense after nearly three hours of face-to-face clashes between the two sides during which police used guns and tear gas," a journalist said.

"Some of the dead were killed in cross-fire," he said from the scene of the violence. Reports pouring in here said sporadic clashes continued until 4 pm. Several photographers were assaulted during the clashes. The strike called by pro-Islamic groups to protest the arrest of IOJ leaders, Shaikul Hadith Moulana Azizul Huq and Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini, brought life in the troubled town to a standstill.

Train and bus services were suspended, while schools, offices and shops were closed. Train services between Dhaka and the southeastern port city of Chittagong and northeastern tea-growing Syleht district were snapped, a spokesman for Bangladesh Railway said. Operations were stopped with the two cities as staff had fled Paghakchang station, near Brahmanbaria, 77 km from Dhaka, after being threatened, he said, adding activists had also tried to damage two sections of the tracks. A timetable for resumption of services was uncertain.

The four-party opposition alliance led by BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, called for a dawn-to-dusk strike across Bangladesh today (Wednesday) to press for the release of Islamic leaders IOJ chief, Azizul Huq and Amini and to protest the alleged murder of a policeman at a mosque on Saturday. It is also demanding a full judicial inquiry into the death of the policeman, who was one of three people killed during a rally in Dhaka against the court ban on fatwas.