_: At least 20 people were injured, including five law enforcers, in a clash between the activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and police in the city’s Nayapaltan area on Sunday evening.
The trouble began around 6pm as a group of JCD activists brought out a procession in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan central office and put a barricade on the road there around 6:30pm.
As police obstructed the JCD men, they engaged in an altercation with the law enforcers, witnesses said.
At one stage, police charged batons on the JCD activists and lobbed teargas shells to disperse them.
The JCD men also hurled brickbats at the police, leading to a clash that left around 20 people injured.
Later, police arrested at least 10 JCD leaders and activists from the spot.
Contacted, Salahuddin Mia, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station, said some police remains deployed near the BNP office every day for security reasons.
He said they came to know that JCD’s thana-level leaders and activists had a programme at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office. “But they suddenly blocked the road in front of the BNP office with a procession, halting traffic.
“As our police members asked to remove the barricade, the Chhatra Dal leaders and activists attacked them with bricks and bats,” the OC said.
He said five members of the police, including assistant commissioner Abul Hasan and sub-inspector Rezaul Islam, were injured.
Later, Salahuddin said, police brought the situation under control by charging batons and firing teargas shells.
He said they also arrested at least 10 people from the spot in connection with the clash.
Meanwhile, at a press conference at their party office at 9:30pm, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that police attacked the JCD men without any provocation. “We strongly condemn and protest the police action.”
He said at least 15 JCD leaders and activists were injured by the police attack while around 20 leaders and activists of BNP and the Chhatra Dal, including Dhaka south city unit BNP member secretary Rafiqul Alam Mojnu, were arrested.
The BNP leader demanded the government immediately release the arrested leaders and activists of BNP and JCD.
Source: United news of Bangladesh