Bangladesh army personnel are manning checkpoints in the capital Dhaka, which is under curfew after days of violence
Bangladesh army personnel are manning checkpoints in the capital Dhaka, which is under curfew after days of violence AFP

The number of arrests in days of violence in Bangladesh approached the 1,200 mark in an AFP tally on Tuesday, after protests over employment quotas sparked widespread unrest.

At least 173 people have died, including several police officers, according to a separate AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals.

What began as demonstrations against politicized admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed last week into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure.

The student group leading the demonstrations suspended its protests Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform "at the expense of so much blood".

A curfew has been imposed and soldiers deployed across the South Asian country, while a nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has drastically restricted the flow of information.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court pared back the number of reserved jobs for specific groups, including the descendants of "freedom fighters" from Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

The restrictions remained in place Tuesday after the army chief said the law and order situation had been brought "under control".

At least 200 people had been arrested in the central districts of Narayanganj and Narsingdi, their police chiefs told AFP, while at least 80 had been held in Bogra.

At least 168 had been arrested in the industrial city of Gazipur, 75 in the northern city of Rangpur, and 60 in Barisal in the south, senior police officials said.

In the rural and industrial part of Dhaka 80 people were arrested, on top of an earlier figure of at least 532 for the capital itself, giving a total of 1,195.

There was a heavy military presence in Dhaka on Tuesday, with bunkers set up at some intersections and key roads blocked with barbed wire.

But more people were on the streets, as were hundreds of rickshaws.

"I did not drive rickshaws the first few days of curfew, But today I didn't have any choice," rickshaw driver Hanif told AFP. "If I don't do it, my family will go hungry."