The police swooped on the procession of about 1,000 members of the Welfare Association for War-Injured Freedom Fighters and Families of the Martyrs near Prodhan Montri Bhaban at around 11:00am, witnesses said.

Witnesses said the police intercepted the procession immediately after it started from its office on Gaznavi Road in Mohammadpur, but the war-injured freedom fighters in wheelchairs and on crutches marched forward.

The police put a barricade on Mirpur Road near the Prodhan Montri Bhaban, the official residence of the prime minister, as the procession was marching towards the PMO.

The crippled freedom fighters and their families ran for cover as police continued indiscriminate baton charging to disperse the procession, the witnesses said.

Some 20 processionists, including freedom fighters Modassir Hossain Modhu Bir Protik, Monsur Ali and Sukkur Ali, were injured in the police action.

After the attack, the agitators sat in front of the Prodhan Montri Bhaban to protest the police action, observing a two-hour sit-in.

The police later allowed a four-member team of the organisation, including its President Amir Hossain Molla and General Secretary Belal Uddin, to go to the PMO. The sit-in ended after they submitted the memorandum.

In the memorandum, the freedom fighters demanded setting up a plastic plant for Tabani Beverage, a sister-concern of Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust, which, according to them, is incurring a loss due to absence of the plant.