DHAKA: Protesters rallied across Bangladesh on Friday for a second straight day calling for the arrest of the gunmen who shot and killed a key figure in last year's pro-democracy uprising.
As news spread that 32-year-old student leader Sharif Osman Hadi died in hospital in Singapore on Thursday, crowds took to the streets in an outpouring of mourning and anger.
Several buildings were vandalised including the offices of media outlets deemed to favour India — an old ally of Bangladesh's ousted leadership.
Hadi, a staunch critic of India, was shot by masked gunmen while leaving a mosque in the capital Dhaka last week. He was initially wounded and flown to Singapore for treatment, but eventually succumbed to his wounds.
UN rights chief Volker Turk called on Friday for a "prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent" investigation.
In Dhaka, protester Sajid al Adeeb said that "people have gathered here demanding the swift arrest of those who killed Hadi".
The 20-year-old student said the killers were "currently in India" — a claim which New Delhi has not commented on.
Protests were also held in the cities of Gazipur, Sylhet and Chattogram on Friday.
Hadi's remains were brought to Dhaka on Friday evening ahead of a funeral planned for the following day.
The customary funeral prayer will be performed on Saturday in front of the parliament building, the government said.
Hadi's body will then be placed at the central mosque of Dhaka University to allow people to pay their last respects before his burial there.
Amir Hossain, Hadi's brother-in-law, said that the family wanted justice.
"We don't need anything except justice. The perpetrators must be punished", Hossain said.
The UN's Turk said in a statement that "he was deeply troubled" by Hadi's killing.
Ahead of the funeral, security has been beefed up in the capital with strict restriction on flying drones around the parliament building.
The US embassy in Dhaka urged its citizens to remain vigilant and "remember that gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence".
Late Thursday, people set fire to several buildings in Dhaka including the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star.
Critics accuse the publications of favouring neighbouring India, where Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the 2024 uprising. — AFP
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