A four-year-old boy has been shot and injured in Comilla city after being caught in the middle of a shoot-out between two rival criminal gangs.
The victim named Hridoy, the son of a local rickshaw-van puller, was just an innocent bystander during the shoot-out, which took place less than a month after infighting between political rivals led to an unborn child being shot in her mother’s womb in Magura.
Hridoy, the son of a rickshaw-puller, suffered gunshot wounds to his arm and abdomen and is currently receiving medical attention, said Dulal Chandra Sutradhar, ward master of the emergency department at Comilla Medical College Hospital. Another person named Hasib has been released by doctors after he was given primary treatment, Dulal added.
Dr Kazi Tahmina Farhana, a doctor at the hospital’s surgery department, told the Dhaka Tribune that the child was out of danger.
A bullet grazed the skin of his abdomen, while an operation would be performed on him on Monday to treat the bullet wound on the left arm, she said.
Police and local sources said yesterday’s gunfight was the result of a long-running feud between local criminal gangs led by Nazim Hossain and Anwar Hossain respectively.
Nazim, who had just been released on bail five days ago, suspected Anwar for being behind his arrest last December. To take revenge, he and his cohorts attacked Anwar around 6am yesterday in the city’s Shubhopur area.
As the clash intensified, around 10-12 rounds of bullet were fired. Hridoy, who was standing in front of his own house at the time, was caught in the exchange of gunfire, said the child’s mother Mahfuza Begum.
Kotwali Model police station Officer-in-Charge Khorshed Alam said Hridoy’s father Arif Miah has filed a case accusing Nazim and around five unnamed persons. Additional police have been deployed in the area to prevent further violence.
Meanwhile, Comilla’s Superintendent of Police Md Shah Abid Hossain said he visited Hridoy in the hospital and gave Tk5,000 for his treatment. All medical expenses of the child would be provided by the police, the SP said, adding that efforts were on to apprehend the culprits.