A freedom fighter was reportedly killed in a clash that took place between two groups of villagers over the distribution of interest to money lenders in Gopalganj.
The incident took place in Kawaldia village of Muksudpur upazila on Friday morning.
The deceased identified as Saheb Ali Khondoker, 60, was from the village, said Muksudpur police station officer-in-charge Mirza Abul Kalam Azad.
According to police and eyewitnesses, Jalal, from Kawaldia village, borrowed money on interest from various people. However, when Jajal failed to pay the interest in due time, money lenders started pressuring him, which led to a village arbitration.
Jalal's sister handed over Tk1 lakh to the arbitrators to pay the lenders their interest. In turn, the arbitrators reportedly handed over that money to respected freedom fighter Saheb Ali Khondoker to distribute the interest to the various lenders.
Saheb distributed the money to the money lenders accordingly.
However, on Friday morning, one of the lenders, Toyub Munshi demanded more money from Jalal, claiming that he did not get his due interest fully which led to a clash between two groups of villagers.
At least, 15 people sustained injuries from the clash and they were taken to hospitals. Among them, freedom fighter Saheb Ali died at Muksudpur Upazila Health Complex.
Speaking on the issue, Muksudpur police station officer in charge, Mirza Abul kalam Azad, said police were deployed in the area and deceased Saheb Ali’s body was sent to Gopalganj General Hospital for autopsy.
