Delhi Police say security beefed up at Bangladesh High Commission as PM Sheikh Hasina flees Dhaka

The protests over reforms in reservations in jobs have killed more than 100 people. File pic

The Delhi Police said it has beefed up security at the Bangladesh High Commission in Chanakyapuri in the wake of developments in the neighbouring country, news agency PTI reported on Monday.

"More barricades have been placed outside the commission and the number of police personnel deployed there has been increased," a Delhi Police officer said.

The police have also increased security outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in case Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina lands in the national capital. There were unconfirmed reports that she was headed to a city in India.

Hasina has resigned and an interim government is taking over, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced on Monday. "I'm taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate," he said in a televised address amid reports that Sheikh Hasina has left the country, as per PTI. As protests spiralled across the country, he said he had asked both Army and police not to fire any shots. Waqar-uz-Zaman also urged restraint and asked protesters to end the violence.

More than 100 people have been killed in the protests against the Hasina government in the last two days.

The country has been witnessing fierce demonstrations over the controversial quota system that reserves 30 per cent of jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday issued a "high alert" across all its formations along the 4,096-km India-Bangladesh border in the wake of the developments in the neighbouring country, officials said, according to PTI.

BSF Director General (Acting) Daljit Singh Chawdhary and other senior commanders have landed in Kolkata to review the security situation, they said.

The force has directed all its field commanders to be "on ground" and "deploy all personnel on border duty immediately", a senior officer told PTI.

The leaves of all the personnel posted along the Bangladesh border were cancelled in the past few weeks after Bangladesh witnessed massive protests, and now all units have been asked to "acquire an all alert posture", he said.

BSF guards the Indian front on the eastern flank of the country that runs along five states.

West Bengal shares 2,217 kilometres of border with Bangladesh, along with Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Assam (262 km) and Mizoram (318 km).

(With PTI inputs)