At least 22 people, including police and Ansar members, were injured in a clash between two factions of the BNP in Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira.
The incident occurred in the Ismailpur area of the upazila on Wednesday, despite Section 144 being imposed by the administration.
The injured include Shyamnagar police station's OC Humayun Kabir, Ansar member Saiful Islam, pedestrian Mehedi, and BNP activists Abdul Rashid, Abdul Majid, Abdur Razzak, Sabur, Mofizur, Sohag, Saiful, Abdullah, and Habibur.
It is known that the leaders of the newly formed Upazila BNP committee organized a peace rally in the town.
In response, leaders and activists of the dissolved committee began to gather with sticks from midday.
Fearing violence due to the heightened tension between the two groups, the Upazila administration imposed Section 144 in Shyamnagar town at 3:45pm.
Witnesses reported that at around 4:30pm, a procession led by Solaiman Kabir, former Acting General Secretary of the Upazila BNP, was heading toward Shyamnagar town.
When the procession reached the house of Ashik-e-Elahi Munna, the Joint General Secretary of the dissolved committee, a stick was thrown from an unknown location.
Immediately, the two factions clashed, throwing bricks and stones.
The UNO Roni Khatun and Assistant Commissioner (Land) Abdullah Al Rifat attempted to stop the violence with the help of police and Ansar personnel.
During this, at least 22 people, including the OC, were injured.
Solaiman Kabir alleged that his workers were attacked on January 19 and 20.
In protest, he and his supporters were heading to the peace rally in the town on Wednesday.
On the way, leaders of the dissolved BNP committee, along with some Awami League activists, attacked them.
Twelve of his supporters were injured, including Sabur, Mofizur, Sohag, Saiful, Abdullah, and Habibur, who were critically injured and hospitalized.
Solaiman accused Abdul Alim, the district BNP member secretary, of inciting the attacks.
He declared Abdul Alim, the head of the BNP's Shyamnagar parliamentary unit, as "undesirable" in the upazila.
Ashik-e-Elahi Munna claimed that in the afternoon, a 31-point meeting organized by the Chhatra Dal of BNP was taking place in Shyamnagar town.
Solaiman, accompanied by his supporters, was on his way to attack the meeting.
On the way, under the direction of district BNP convener Iftikhar Ali, Solaiman, Liakat Ali Babu, Shafikul Islam Dulu, and Abdul Wahab led an attack on Munna’s house.
During the attack, Awami League's Sadekur Rahman’s criminal gang participated with shields, machetes, sticks, hockey sticks, and cocktails.
Abdul Wahed, the president of the dissolved Upazila BNP committee, called for an investigation into the clashes and demanded justice.
OC Humayun Kabir said that he was injured while trying to stop the clash.
He added that several people from both sides were injured, but no complaints had been filed with the police station by 8pm.
UNO Roni Khatun confirmed that Section 144 would remain in place in the area until further notice, and the injured Ansar member was taken to the hospital.
