DHAKA: The ranks of Hong Kong democracy protesters who have paralysed parts of the city swelled into their tens of thousands on Monday, digging in for another night of confrontation with the police in their campaign for free elections.

In the worst unrest since the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997, demonstrators fought hours of running battles with police Sunday night, choking on clouds of tear gas as officers attempted to suppress the crowds.

Riot police retreated on Monday, handing demonstrators both a major morale boost and control of three major thoroughfares on the key financial hub’s main island and across the harbour, reports The Straits Times.

But protesters defied government calls to go home and instead readied themselves to counter any new attempt by police to retake the streets.

At the largest protest site in Admiralty district, where many international businesses are based, crowds swelled to some 20,000 people by the afternoon, reporters estimated, taking over nearly 1km of highway.

Smaller protests in their low thousands blocked key thoroughfares throughout the day in Mongkok and Causeway Bay, two densely packed shopping districts.

‘I’m staying until the end, until we get what we want to get, which is true democracy,’ 18-year-old high school student Michael Wan said, surrounded by thousands of fellow supporters sheltering under umbrellas from the hot sun.

Underlining their assertive stance, some 1,000 masked protesters gathered outside a police station where senior officers held a press conference defending their liberal use of tear gas against crowds on Sunday night.

Assistant Commissioner Cheung Tak-keung said tear gas was used ‘87 times’ at nine different locations.

BDST: 2036 HRS, SEP 29, 2014