DHAKA, 6 April, 2021, (TON): A protest over police enforcement of coronavirus restrictions in rural Bangladesh turned violent when a mob of demonstrators attacked a police station, resulting in at least three people being shot, police and a doctor said. 

The incident took place in the central town of Saltha in the Faridpur district on Monday. According to the police, rumours had spread about a man being injured in police sweep of a market aimed at enforcing health measures to curb the spread of COVID. 

Thousands of villagers took to the streets in anger. A group of them hurled bricks at a police station and vandalised government offices in the town, torching an officer's home and two cars belonging to government officials, police said. 

"Police fired in self-defence after they attacked the police station," a police spokesman said. A second police official, inspector Nur-a-Alam Fakir, confirmed the incident. 

Police did not give any casualty figures, but Abdul Matin, a doctor at the emergency ward of the state-run Faridpur Medical College Hospital, said three people were in critical condition after suffering gunshot wounds. 

Bangladesh on Monday instituted a seven-day nationwide lockdown after coronavirus case numbers reached record highs and fatalities skyrocketed in recent weeks. 

Earlier, tens of thousands of Hefazat supporters staged nationwide demonstrations against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last month, which triggered deadly clashes with police.