DHAKA, Aug 16: The Bangladesh government on Friday ordered a judicial probe into an overnight clash in Dhaka during which armed militias guarding a mosque on disputed land opened fire leaving four people dead and 50 injured.

Officials said Prime Minister Khaleda Zia sent condolences to the bereaved families and deputed a high court judge to investigate within a week the incident which took place late Thursday in the central Malibagh district.

Additional police were posted near the mosque to prevent further violence and defuse tensions, as several hundred people attended Friday prayers there, witnesses said.

Some 23 paramilitary personnel who supplement regular police were on duty at the mosque Thursday and were reportedly responsible for shooting indiscriminately at a crowd of protesting residents and students from nearby madressas.

They were suspended pending the investigation, officials said.

Three protestors died on the spot and another at Dhaka’s main government casualty hospital where the condition of five of the injured was said to be serious.

The imam of the mosque led special prayers for the victims, while some of the congregation later held a protest rally outside condemning the killings and demanding those responsible be quickly arrested.

Similar protests were also staged outside the nearby Baitul Mukarram Mosque, where religious groups said they deplored the violence and asked the government to bring the killers to justice.

Reports said the mosque was built illegally a few years ago by a local group on land belonging to government telecom staff quarters.

Earlier this week telecoms authorities officials won a court battle over ownership of the land and constructed a wall blocking residents and students from going to the mosque.

On Thursday several hundred madressa students and residents tried to pull down the wall and enter the mosque, police and witnesses said.—AFP