Symbolic funeral processions were planned to pay tribute to at least 25 people killed on Thursday.

The deaths brought the total number killed to 31, according to BBC Bangla, though exact toll is difficult to assess due in part to an almost complete communications shutdown, with mobile internet and telephone lines reportedly down.

The shutdown comes as authorities try to quell the protests demanding the government scrap a job quota for the families of veterans who took part in the country's independence war in 1971.

Bus and train services have reportedly also been halted, while photos from Dhaka show large numbers of police in riot gear on the streets.

Schools and universities across Bangladesh have also been shut until further notice.

But this has done little to stop the protesters, who vowed to continue with their own "Complete Shutdown", which has seen them blockade roads across the city.

On Friday, students chanting "merit, merit" and "we won't let the blood that has been shed of our brothers go in vain" were joined by a number of parents outside Dhaka university.

The students are arguing that the quota system is discriminatory, asking for recruitment based on merit.