Police used water cannons and batons to disperse applicants demonstrating at Shahbagh on Tuesday, as they demanded that the written exam date for the 47th BCS be postponed. The protesters had been blocking the intersection for nearly five hours before the police intervention around 4:30 p.m., leaving several participants injured.

One demonstrator told that they were preparing to march toward Jamuna when police suddenly charged without provocation. He said he was hit on the head and that others were also hurt.

Earlier, around 1 p.m., candidates began a march toward the chief adviser’s residence, Jamuna, after holding a protest gathering against the current exam schedule. They were stopped by a police barricade at Shahbagh and staged a sit-in there. The protesters gave the authorities a deadline of 5 p.m. to accept their demands, but the police moved in before the deadline expired.

Following the dispersal, many of the job seekers regrouped at the Dhaka University library premises and said they intend to attempt another march toward Jamuna.

The written exam for the 47th BCS is slated to begin on 27 November and will be held simultaneously at centers in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur, and Mymensingh. For technical and professional cadres, subject-based written exams will continue until 18 December.