DHAKA, July 25 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Bangladeshi government has formed a judicial committee, led by a Supreme Court judge to investigate violence during student protests over the quota system in public sector jobs, which resulted in the deaths of 197 people.
Mohammad A Arafat, the junior minister of information and broadcasting vowed that whoever is responsible for the unrest since last week will be punished, Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted him as saying to international media correspondents in Dhaka, the country’s capital.
Since Saturday, the government has imposed a curfew and deployed troops across the country to quell the protests. However, on Wednesday, the curfew was relaxed for several hours to allow people to buy daily necessities.
At least 197 people were killed and thousands more injured during protests that erupted on July 16.
The government has yet to release the official death toll, with Arafat saying they are working to determine the exact number of casualties.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "We will identify them one by one with all of our strength. They will face legal consequences. We will not back down to ensure it," he told reporters in Dhaka.
More than 800 people have been arrested in Dhaka in the past 24 hours, and over 3,000 across the country, in connection with the violence, according to police. Local media reported that the majority of those arrested are opposition party members.
Student movement coordinators issued a 48-hour ultimatum on Tuesday to restore order and reopen campuses across the country.
In response, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury said the current situation is unsuitable for reopening educational institutions.
The junior minister for telecommunications, Zunaid Ahmed Palak announced that broadband internet would be restored on an experimental basis on Wednesday night, followed by mobile internet within the next week.
Social media remained inaccessible until Wednesday, with Palak blaming major platforms for failing to follow the country's laws and allowing the spread of disinformation that incited violence.
-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
