Police charge batons, use tear gas to foil siege to Energy Ministry

Police Thursday charged batons and used tear gas shells dispersing demonstrators who tried to lay siege to the Energy Ministry to press for various demands including cancellation of awarding Phulbari coal mine contract to Asia Energy and open pit coal mining, reports UNB. Witnesses said several hundred demonstrators under the banner of National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Electricity and Port assembled at the corner of the Secretariat adjacent to the National Press Club at 12:15 pm. Earlier, police put barricade with barbed wire fences to stop the demonstrators. As the demonstrators tried to remove the fences, police used batons and two rounds of tear gas shells to disperse them. National Committee convener Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah and its member-secretary Anu Mohammad led the demonstration. After being beaten by police, Anu Mohammad announced countrywide demonstration on January 2 and gherao at power stations across the country on January 17. Earlier, the National Committee announced siege to rail, road and waterways on March 15. The National Committee is also protesting against power generation in the private sector and allowing India to use the Chittagong Port.