A group of students and civilians claiming to be the “real July Warriors" removed members of the "July Warriors Council" from Shahbagh on Friday evening, branding them as impostors.
The platform had been blockading the busy intersection for 32 hours, demanding the implementation of the July proclamation and charter.
The incident occurred around 6pm at Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection, following which vehicular movement returned to normal after over a day of disruption.
The group that had been staging the prolonged blockade and identifying themselves as July Warriors was suddenly confronted by a crowd of students and people.
The group broke the barricades and, while attempting to assault the protesters after calling them "fake July Warriors," the protesters dispersed and fled the scene.
One individual, identifying himself as a real July Warrior, said: “The government has already announced a date. Yet these people have deliberately created public suffering by occupying such a busy intersection.”
He added: “This is only increasing resentment among the public regarding the July movement. We told them yesterday as well, but they ignored us.”
The man displayed a card identifying him as a July-injured person.
According to eyewitnesses, the group of students and people arrived at Shahbagh calling themselves the genuine July Warriors and accused the demonstrators of being frauds. A scuffle broke out between the two sides, eventually leading to the dispersal of the demonstrators.
Eyewitness Ariful Islam said: “Shahbagh has been blocked for two days, and people are exhausted. The government has already announced plans to issue the July charter, yet these people continued to cause disruption.”
He added: “Now I’ve learned they were impostors. The ones who removed them showed their July-injury ID cards, even bullet wounds. That made it clear to us who the real July Warriors are.”
Although a brief clash occurred initially, the protesters soon scattered. Police also assisted in bringing the situation under control. No serious injuries were reported during the incident.
As of the time of reporting, neither group was present in the Shahbagh area, and traffic had returned to normal.