A Jamaat-e-Islami activist was killed and 20 injured in a clash with local businessmen, backed by Awami League men, in Raninagar upazila of Naogaon yesterday.
The skirmish broke out when local businessmen and Awami League activists tried to prevent the Jamaat men from vandalising shops and vehicles from a procession which brought out against the death warrant issued against their leader and war criminal Quader Mollah
Five vehicles, including a motorcycle, and seven shops were vandalised by the Jamaat men during the clash at Abadpukur intersection around 4:30pm and lasted for over an hour. Injured jamaat activist Shukbar Ali, 60, died on his way to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
OC of Raninagar police station Abdullah Al Masud said both groups used lethal weapons.
Apart from the Naogaon clash, the Jamaat enforced hartal and the fourth day of the BNP-led 18-party opposition combine’s countrywide blockade were marked by incidents such as attack on police and ambulance, arson, vandalism and clashes. A few incidents were reported in the capital as well.
Our correspondent in Rajshahi reported that Shibir men beat up three policemen including Motihar police station OC Abdul Majid and constables Miraz and Rezaul in the morning.
The incident happened when the police team went to the Binodpur Bazar area to bar a procession. The Shibir men snatched a shotgun from a constable and beat up the cops leaving one of Majid’s legs broken.
Later additional police rushed to the scene and rescued their injured colleagues. The firearm was found abandoned beside a road. A total of 19 Shibir men were picked in raids at different places in Binodpur, Dharampur and other adjacent areas in connection with the attack.
Meanwhile, pickets clashed with policemen in front of the Rajshahi Government College in the city around 10am. Police fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas canisters while pickets blasted several crude bombs.
In Chapainawabganj, pickets vandalised an ambulance and beat up the patient and his relatives in the Koilabari area. Local people rescued them and took them to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in critical conditions.
In Natore, BNP-Jamaat men vandalised eight trucks on the Natore-Dhaka highway when they were passing the area under police protection. The marauding men also attacked police, vandalised a police van and injured a constable. The incident that took place around 12am, also left nine blockaders injured.
Almost at the same time, blockaders vandalised 22 fertilizer-laden trucks at Sheikh Para bazar under Shailkupa upazila of Jhenaidah.
In Sylhet, Shibir activists torched a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Shah-e Eidgah area and vandalised a truck and four auto-rickshaws in Majumdari and Kajolshah.
Police, meanwhile, have acquired a list of financers of subversive activities after raiding a mess of Shibir at Dharshandewri in Sylhet city. A huge stack of jihadi books and leaflets were recovered from the place.
In Khulna, a BNP activist named Helal, 47, died in cardiac arrest while taking part in a procession at Khalishpur.
In Satkhira, a crude bomb blast on the house of union parishad level BNP leader Nur Mohammad left him injured late Monday night.
Incidents of violence were reported from Narayanganj, Dinajpur, Madaripur and Narshingdi as well.
In the capital, two Sewachchasebok Dal men were arrested and awarded six months jail after they had been caught red handed with bombs soon after they blasted seven bombs at Armanitola in old Dhaka. Shibir men blasted crude bombs from a procession at Khilgaon in the morning. Bombs were also blasted at Azimpur.