Police on Monday afternoon fired teargas shells and baton-charged protesters who blocked the Jumna, the official residence of interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, demanding an increase in the age limit for government jobs. had been

The incident took place at around 1:15 pm when protesters demanding raising the age limit for government jobs to 35 blocked the main gate of the Chief Adviser’s residence in Dhaka city.

The protests started at 11:00 AM from Shah Bagh Crossing from where a procession was taken out which broke through the police barricades and reached Yamuna.

“The police fired teargas shells and rubber bullets at our protesting brothers. A protester, Abu Saeed Khan, told reporters that many protesters were injured.

Noor Amin, who came from Rangpur to join the protest, said it took 27 years to complete studies due to the session jam and the current age limit prevented many candidates from competing for civil service jobs.

‘In many developed countries there is no age limit for entry into government jobs. We demand the government to accept our demand,” said Noor Amin, who completed his master’s degree from Begum Rukia University, Rangpur.

He condemned the police attack on the protesters as 10-15 of his colleagues were injured.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Sarwar Jahan declined to comment when asked about the police action against the protesters.

The representatives of the protestors held a meeting with Information and Broadcasting Adviser Mohammad Naheed Islam and Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmood Sajeeb Bhuyan in Jumna for more than an hour.

Abdul Moeed Chaudhary, a former adviser to the caretaker government who is also the head of the interim government’s Public Administration Reform Commission, will hold talks with representatives of the protesters today, Rasal, a protest coordinator, told reporters on Monday evening.

“We have spoken to Moeed Sahib on phone and he will sit with us tomorrow. We cannot issue gazette notification today as there is a process. We have to act on it,’ said Russell, adding that he would continue his movement in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh from today.

The protesters cleared the road in front of the Chief Adviser’s residence around 8:30 am.

Earlier, a committee headed by former secretary Abdul Moeed Chaudhary was appointed to make recommendations on the demand to raise the age limit for entry into the civil service to 35 years from the current 30 years.

The head of the committee, which can select the required number of members, will submit recommendations within seven working days, said Mohammad Mukhlisur Rehman, secretary of the Ministry of Administration, at a briefing at the secretariat that day.

The committee was formed in the backdrop of protests and demands by government job seekers to increase the age limit starting from early September.

The staff of the Chief Adviser’s office said that while analyzing the videos, they found that many of the protesters were followers of Gana Odhikar Parishad faction president Noorul Haq Noor.

However, Noorul Haq Noor could not be reached for comment on phone or through text messages.

On August 25, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in a public announcement banned all gatherings, rallies, processions and protests near the Jumna, the official residence of the Chief Adviser, and the Secretariat from August 26.

Younis was sworn in as the chief adviser to the interim government on August 8 following the resignation of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and on August 5 after fleeing to India during the student-led popular uprising.