Police Kill 3 as Prisoners Riot in Bangladesh

Police on Saturday fired on thousands of rioting prisoners demanding freedom, killing at least three and wounding more than 90, officials said.

At least 33 guards were injured after inmates stormed the jail’s main gate with iron rods and sticks, said a police spokesman.

About 5,000 convicts and detainees awaiting trial took part in the riot at Dhaka Central Jail. Police opened fire as some tried to scale the walls, a senior police official said.

The state BSS news agency said the rioting was continuing late Saturday, and some jail wardens were taken hostage. Hundreds of police surrounded the prison.

Inmates waved blood-stained shirts from the rooftops and threw slips of paper with written messages for journalists standing outside the compound.

One message claimed that 20 to 50 prisoners were killed by police bullets and between 100 and 300 were wounded.

Other messages demanded that the prisoners be released because their crimes were small compared to those of Kader Siddiqui, an opposition political leader convicted of treason and sentenced in absentia for 12 years in prison.