Bangladeshi police remove three protest leaders from hospital

All three students are members of Students Against Discrimination, the group responsible for co-ordinating this month’s street rallies against civil service hiring rules.

The trio’s student group had suspended a further wave of protests at the start of this week, due to the bloodshed.

At least 150 people have been killed as a result of nationwide clashes between police and university students, with security forces accused of using excessive force.

Protesters had been calling for quotas on government jobs to be scrapped.

Bangladesh had reserved about 30% of its high-paying government jobs for relatives of those who fought in the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Bangladesh’s top court has now rolled back most of these quotas and ruled that 93% of roles would now be filled on merit – meeting a key demand of protesters.

At the beginning of the protests the government imposed an unprecedented communications blackout, shutting down the internet and restricting phone services.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s leader Sheikh Hasina was accused of crying “crocodile tears” after she was photographed weeping at a train station that was destroyed during anti-government protests.

She has disregarded criticism that her security forces deploy excess force to quell the unrest, and instead blamed her political opponents for the wave of violence.

Some student leaders have vowed to continue protesting to demand justice for protesters killed and detained in recent days.

They are also seeking the resignation of government ministers and an apology from Ms Hasina.