At least 12 people including a policeman were injured in a clash between police and auto-rickshaw drivers in the Palli Bidyut area of Savar as they demonstrated to protest "police extortion".

The injured were admitted to nearby medical centers for treatment.

However, the identities of the injured are yet to be known.

Hundreds of drivers blocked Savar's Nabinagar-Chandra highway around 12pm, creating a huge traffic jam in the area.

When law enforcers tried to remove the blockade, they clashed with police, leaving 11 drivers injured. One police personnel was also hurt in the incident.

The protestors also threw brickbats at the policemen while they were working on removing the blockade.

Read: 20 injured as locals clash with police in N'ganj

At one stage, police charged batons at the demonstrators and managed to remove them from the highway, said Atiqur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Savar Highway Police Station.

However, he termed the issue of extortion and harassment on the highway as false and baseless.

Legal action will be taken in this regard, said Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.

Earlier on Saturday, the workers started a three-day protest against the extortion and harassment of autorickshaw and van drivers on the highway by law enforcers in the name of a fine.