Hundreds deployed to restore peace in Bangladesh

Violence has erupted in Bangladesh ahead of October elections

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Hundreds of paramilitary troops have been sent in to the southeastern Bangladesh town of Feni town to halt pre-election violence which has killed at least 20 people and wounded 300 in the past six weeks.

The clashes in the town, 150 km (95 miles) from capital Dhaka, have been between supporters of former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Feni resident Begum Khaleda Zia, Reuters reports.

The two women are the main contenders for power in parliamentary elections due on October 1, and each has blamed the other for providing arms to their followers in the run-up to the vote.

Hasina's Awami League held a massive rally at Feni on Saturday to muster support for a likely party likely candidate, Jainal Hazari, who is wanted by police on suspicion of murder and possession of illegal weapons.

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Troops and police raided Hazari's home in Feni on August 17 and seized several weapons, but they didn't find him.

The caretaker government headed by former chief justice Latifur Rahman took over on July 15 and has to hold an election within three months.

Since July, police say they have arrested over 72,000 "identified and suspected" criminals and seized more than 3,000 illegal firearms.

Political rivalries in this poor South Asian nation are intense and often erupt in violence ahead of elections.

The situation had grown so intense that parliament had considered a special security law to increase protection for Hasina because of threats against her life.

She had accused opposition parties of using armed gangsters to disrupt law and order and kill people in a bid to destabilize the country in the run-up to the polls.

Hasina vacated office after becoming the first Bangladeshi leader to serve a full five-year term, a record in this violence-wracked South Asian nation.

The government has banned the carrying of licensed firearms in public

Bangladesh has witnessed the assassinations of two presidents, three military coups and 19 failed coup attempts since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Bangladesh has banned licensed firearms being carried in public in an effort to contain violence and has vowed to punish violaters.

Authorities have said that they have recouped large quantities of illegal arms, and have taken steps to arrest terrorists in a drive to allow voting without intimidation and threat.

Since the caretaker government took control in mid July, police say they have recovered more than 2,500 firearms.

Thousands of people have licensed guns in Bangladesh -- either for personal security or for hunting.

No jail room

The caretaker government, headed by former chief justice Latifur Rahman, took over at the end of Hasina's five-year term and will hold the election within three months as required by the constitution.

But police said on Tuesday that there was no room left in its jails.

"The number of prisoners is rising and there is an accommodation problem for them in the country's jails," Home Secretary Saadat Hossain told reporters.

Hossain's comment came after a law and order review meeting attended by several heads of security agencies, including the country's army chief Lieutenant General Harun-ur-Rashid and its chief election commissioner M.A. Syed.