Thursday, January 05, 2006

POWER FOR THE PEOPLE



Police in Bangladesh have killed two persons who were protesting frequent power outages in the northwestern part of the country.

Some 50 people also were injured in the violence late Wednesday in the rural town of Kanshat in Chapainawabganj district, about 230 kilometers northwest of the capital Dhaka, said the area’s police chief Shamsul Alam Khan.

Police claim they opened fire when about 3,000 people attacked a state-run electricity office, threw stones at police and vandalized residential apartments of the power officials.

The protesters rallied outside the electricity office complaining that frequent power outages were hampering irrigation and small industries that depend on electricity.

Following the shooting, Paramilitary troopers of Bangladesh Rifles and police were deployed in the village fearing fresh violence.

Only 35 percent of Bangladesh’s 140 million people have access to electricity, according to the World Bank. Sources: Khaleej Times, Evening Echo, New Kerala

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