At least 50 people were injured in Bangladesh in protests when power cuts hit prayer time the day before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police said on Thursday.
Protesters were demanding that electricity supplies were maintained during Ramadan, which started on Thursday, police said.
"The power cuts hit at the time when people will want to break the Ramadan fast," said Anwar Hossain, police chief in Natore district, where hundreds of villagers besieged the state power company's office.
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Several thousand angry residents also ransacked a power sub-station on Wednesday in the central Narayanganj district after a six-hour blackout, local police chief Akter Hossain told AFP.
"The protesters were so aggressive -- throwing bricks and stones at the police. We had to fire bullets and tear gas shells to disperse them," he said, adding that 50 people including six police officers were injured.
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, is experiencing a utilities crisis with severe power, gas and water shortages.
Authorities have been forced to call in the army to protect water pumps and power plants.
The education ministry said Thursday that all schools and colleges had been ordered to close during Ramadan to save electricity and ease traffic congestion.
