Following her retreat, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was stormed by jubilant demonstrators on Monday, marking the end of over a month-long, deadly anti-government demonstrations.
Before hundreds of people broke past the gates of Hasina's official residence on Monday morning, jubilant crowds in Dhaka waved flags and even danced on top of a tank.
Channel 24 in Bangladesh aired footage of reveling people rushing into the complex and waving to the camera.
Hasina, 76, had earlier told AFP that she had left her palace for a “safer place,” according to a source close to her.
Her son, American Sajeeb Joy, wrote on Facebook, "It means don't allow any unelected government to come in power for one minute, it is your duty."
Throughout the agitation that started last month against civil service job quotas and eventually spread to calls for Hasina's resignation, security forces had backed her government.
However, the demonstrators disobeyed lethal force and curfews.
In the worst day of the turmoil, Sunday saw 94 deaths total, including 14 police officers.
Security officers opened fire as protesters and government supporters nationwide engaged in combat with sticks and knives.
According to an official statement, Waker informed officers on Saturday that the armed forces "always stood by the people."
Following months of intense political turmoil, the military proclaimed an emergency in January 2007 and created a caretaker administration with military support that lasted for two years.
Since taking office in 2009, Hasina has ruled Bangladesh. In January, she won an election for the fourth time in a row with no real opposition.
Human rights organizations charge her government of abusing state institutions, including as the extrajudicial death of opposition activists, in order to strengthen its hold on power and quell dissent.
The reinstatement of a quota system that allocated over half of all government positions to particular groups sparked protests.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh's top court has reduced the scheme, the protests become more intense.
On Monday morning, barbed wire blocked the path to Hasina's office in Dhaka by soldiers and police in armored vehicles, but large crowds poured into the streets, knocking down the barricades.
It was impossible to confirm the Business Standard newspaper's estimate of the number of protestors on the streets, which reached up to 400,000.
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