Fresh protests hit Bangladesh after Modi's visit

More than a dozen protesters have been wounded in the third day of demonstrations in Bangladesh, local media reported, as violence spread across the country in the wake of a controversial visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At least 11 protesters were killed in clashes with police during demonstrations organised by Muslim religious groups against the right-wing Hindu leader's visit, and violence raged on after his departure as anger swelled over the deaths.

READ MORE: Hundreds protest in Bangladesh against visit of India's Modi

Five people died on Friday, and another six the next day, after police shot at demonstrators in several major districts across the Muslim-majority nation of 168 million people.

The protesters, mostly from religious group Hefazat-e-Islam, on Sunday were angry at the visit of Indian PM Modi as Bangladesh marked 50 years of independence.

Bangladesh's religious groups accuse Modi of discriminating against minority Muslims in Hindu-majority India and violence escalated rapidly during his visit.

In recent weeks, demonstrators in Muslim-majority Bangladesh had urged the Indian leader not to visit and criticised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for inviting him.

Calls for investigation over shootings

At one new protest in Narayanganj just outside the capital Dhaka, Hefazat supporters chanted "action, action, direct action" as they blocked the key highway linking Dhaka with the port city of Chittagong.

Hundreds of demonstrators burnt furniture and tyres on the roads as they chanted anti-Modi slogans and called on authorities to investigate the shootings.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after the protesters barricaded parts of the highway. A police spokesman said they had since left the road.

Prothom Alo, the country's biggest Bengali-language daily, said at least 15 people were injured in the Narayanganj clashes.

READ MORE: Several killed as Modi's Bangladesh visit sparks violent protests

Nationwide protests

Hefazat spokesman Jakaria Noman Foyezi said that thousands of its supporters joined demonstrations at its headquarters at Hathazari outside Chittagong, which is home to a top Islamic seminary.

The group has a nationwide network, and it has held large protests in the past demanding that Bangladesh introduce blasphemy laws.

Protests were also held in the northeastern city of Sylhet, the eastern district of Brahmanbaria and in Bosila, a Dhaka suburb, but there were no reports of violence, local media reported.

As Bangladesh celebrated independence, human rights groups criticised the government for what they described as growing authoritarianism, including forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Other groups –– including students, leftists and other outfits –– had also staged protests against Modi's visit on Friday and Saturday.

The country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, an arch rival of PM Hasina, said the call for the general strike was logical.

"Police opened fire on our peaceful supporters," Hefazat-e-Islam's organising secretary Azizul Haque told a rally in Chittagong on Saturday. 

"We will not let the blood of our brothers go in vain.