Bangladesh police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a procession taken out by members of banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir in Dhaka city on Friday, media reports said.

The procession was taken out in Baitul Mukarram area of Dhaka when some members of the banned group reportedly clashed with the police.

Around a thousand operatives of the outfit brought out the procession as part of the "March for Khilafah" programme after the end of Friday prayers at the national mosque, reported The Daily Star.

The police resorted to a lathicharge after the procession moved from Paltan towards Bijoynagar.

The Hizb ut-Tahrir activists tried to regroup and begin the procession once again, but the police dispersed them.

A sense of panic gripped the region during the procession.

Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of Ramna Police Division, told The Daily Star that the operatives of banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir tried to bring out a procession and law enforcers dispersed them and brought the situation under control.

"Several of them were detained and we will be able to say the exact number later on," he told reporters on the spot.

The Bangladesh government banned Hizb ut-Tahrir on October 22, 2009.

The group was considered a threat to public security.

If any banned outfit, including Hizb ut-Tahrir, attempts to hold meetings, rallies, or engage in any form of publicity, necessary legal action will be taken, read the statement issued by Muhammad Talebur Rahman PPM, deputy commissioner (media) of DMP as quoted by The Daily Star.

3 Hizb Ut-Tahrir Members Arrested

Earlier in the day, police arrested three members of the banned outfit from Uttara region of Dhaka.

They were identified as Monirul Islam, 40, Mohtasim Billah, 40, and Mahmudul Hasan, 21.