Violence has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the youth movement that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The 32-year-old was shot by masked attackers while leaving a mosque in Dhaka last week and died of his injuries on Thursday while being treated in Singapore. As news of his death emerged, hundreds of supporters gathered in the capital to protest, and demonstrators subsequently vandalised the offices of prominent newspapers The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, with one building set on fire.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government, called Hadi’s death “an irreparable loss for the nation” and declared Saturday a day of national mourning. “The country’s march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed,” he said in a televised speech on Thursday. Soon after Hadi was shot, Yunus said it was a premeditated attack and warned that “the objective of the conspirators is to derail the election.” Troops were deployed to the scene of the newspaper attacks, while firefighters rescued journalists trapped inside the building. Investigations are ongoing and several people have been detained in connection to the shooting.

Hasina fled to India on August 5 last year following weeks of student-led protests, bringing an end to 15 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. In November, she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest. Bangladeshi political parties have mourned Hadi’s death and urged the interim government to bring the perpetrators to justice. “No form of violence intended to disrupt the election will be tolerated,” Yunus stated, adding that “the incident is a worrying development for the country’s political landscape.”