37 people were killed and hundreds more injured in Bangladesh today in fierce street fighting between police and Islamic hardliners demanding the death penalty for blasphemy.

Rioters chanting ‘God is greatest!’ torched shops and vehicles, blocked roads and fought bloody battles with police in the capital of Dhaka and its suburbs.

At least 70,000 activists ran amok in the capitals financial district overnight, forcing hundreds of workers to sleep in their offices as gunfire rattled through the night.

Dozens of demonstrators were arrested, while the leader of the protests was put on a plane to the country’s second city Chittagong and the deputy chief was detained in the capital.

Activists from the fundamentalist Hefajat-e-Islam group had marched along at least six roads, blocking transport between Dhaka and other cities.

Police have said about 200,000 people marched to central Dhaka, where tensions erupted as protesters – armed with rocks – clashed with security officials, who beat them back with batons.

It is believed rioting broke out after police tried to intercept protesters, many of whom had travelled from remote villages and had gathered in front of the country’s largest mosque.

The protests had been instigated by Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi, the leader of Hefajat-e-Islam who is said to be around 90 years old.

Hefajat-e-Islam is a newly created radical Islamist group that wants greater segregation of men and women, and a stricter Islamic education. It also want the restoration of pledges to Allah in the constitution.

The government in Bangladesh has rejected the groups’ demands, saying the Muslim-majority nation is governed by secular liberal laws.

Leaders have threatened to launch a campaign to oust the government unless their demands are met.