Dhaka, Jan 16: Around 5,000 security forces were deployed today in Dhaka to prevent violence during a general strike protesting a recent hike in fuel prices.

The strike - called by Bangladesh's largest Opposition party, the Awami League - was expected to shut businesses and schools, and halt traffic. Opposition leaders say the 14 per cent fuel price hike will cause inflation and hurt ordinary people. But the government says it was forced to raise fuel prices early this month to cut losses by the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. Police used batons and water canons to disperse dozens of Opposition demonstrators yesterday who tried to hold a street rally outside the party's downtown headquarters in the capital, Dhaka, to drum up support for the strike. At least five people were injured, witnesses said.

The government says that the price increase will help the sate-owned petroleum company cut its losses by usd153 million a year.
The company currently imports all of Bangladesh's annual requirement of 3.5 million tons of oil.
Bureau Report