Over 50 people were injured when police personnel fired rubber bullets, teargas shells and charged with batons to disperse BNP activists as they attacked the police station with lethal weapons at Madhupur upazila in Tangail thursday.
The angry mob of party activists torched a police van and a motorcycle belonging to a police official.
Mojibor Rahman, officer-in-charge of Madhupur police station, said the clash started around 12:30pm as the police forces interrupted BNP activists and its student organisations while they were blocking the police station.
Police said on Wednesday night, Amjad Hossen, Ward no. 6 Councilor of Modhupur, filed a case accusing Madhupur Municipality Mayor Sarker Shahid and Panel Mayor Mehedi Hasan for vandalising a billboard and firing five rounds in blank.
After the case, law enforcers arrested the mayor, who is also the general secretary of upazila BNP, first at 3am and released him around 10am.
Later, Police arrested him again around 12pm and brought him to the police station.
Protesting the arrest, BNP activists attacked police, blockaded the police station and set up barricades on the Tangail-Mymensingh road.
Then police fired at least 100 rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas at the angry mob to disperse them and eventually got the situation under control.
Shamsul Alom Tofa, secretary of Tangail district BNP unit, alleged that Minister Abdur Razzak Bhola pressured law enforcers to arrest the mayor to ruin the BNP activities in the upazila.
Abul Hasanat, assistant police super of Tangail, said they deployed extra police personnel to control any unwanted incident as unrest and tension has been prevailing in the areas.
