At least four BNP activists sustained injuries as the motorcade of BNP vice-chairman and former minister Begum Selima Rahman was attacked at Muladi upazila in Barisal yesterday.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Selima claimed that activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League attacked her motorcade when she was passing by Muladi Degree College, on her way to the upazila to attend a rally.
“They damaged four motorcycles and injured four BNP activists,” she said.
Seeking anonymity, a witness told the Dhaka Tribune that the Chhatra League members chased and attacked the motorcade with sticks around 11:30am.
However, Jubayer Ahmed Jewel, president of Chhatra League's Muladi upazila unit, denied the allegation of Chhatra League's involvement in the incident.
“BNP's Muladi unit has factions which are rivals. It may have been the rival factions that attacked the motorcade, and now the BNP leader is shift the blame on the Chhatra League,” he said.
Alauddin Milon, officer-in-charge of Muladi police station, also said that the Chhatra League was not involved in the incident.
“The Chhatra League activists assembled in front of the college to receive Awami League-backed upazila Vice-Chairman Mainul Hasan Sabuj, who returned home from abroad,” the OC said.
Chaos ensued as the panicked BNP activists were seen on a rush to move away from the conflict, witnesses said.