At least five people were killed and dozens injured in police gunfire in eastern Bangladesh on Saturday.

A hospital doctor has confirmed the deaths, as security forces tried to quell protests against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundreds of students from madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, clashed with police and border troops in the eastern Brahmanbaria district. Police said they had to open fire to control the violence.

Many Islamist groups in Bangladesh accuse Modi of alienating minority Muslims in Hindu-majority India. The two countries issued a joint statement celebrating their cooperation and partnership but the Bangladesh government made no comment about the protests.

“We received three bullet-hit dead bodies and two others succumbed to their injuries later,” Abdullah Al Mamun, a doctor at the government-owned Brahmanbaria General Hospital, told Reuters.

A local police officer confirmed five had died but declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media. Bangladeshi police did not officially confirm the death toll.

Protests raged across Bangladesh against Modi but also over the police killing of Islamists who had demonstrated against his two-day visit.