BNP sparked Bakshibazar clash to kill Chhabi Biswas, says State Minister Kamal

The BNP engineered Wednesday’s chaos to target MP Chhabi Biswas, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said while denying allegations of the Awami League launching an attack triggering the Bakshibazar clash.

Kamal spoke to reporters while visiting the Netrakona-1 MP, who is undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, on Thursday.

“This is their (BNP) way. They attacked an MP as sober as Chhabi Biswas in a safe place like the hospital,” he said.

BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has blamed the ruling party for the clash on Wednesday.

He said Chhatra League President H M Badiuzzaman Sohag led the attack on BNP activists. Their target was Khaleda Zia’s motorcade.

BNP and Awami League supporters clashed in the stretch between Bakshibazar and DMHC on Wednesday over the hearing of Khaleda Zia’s graft cases in a special court.

At one stage of the clash, Chhabi Biswas’s car was set ablaze while the MP suffered injuries to the head and had to be hospitalised.

“How was it a Chhatra League attack? They (BNP) engineered a situation to kill the MP,” Kamal asked.

Police filed two cases in over the attack on Biswas and the clashes on Wednesday night.

It accused 23 persons including, Khaleda Zia's advisor Abdul Awal Mintoo, BNP central leaders Habibunnabi Khan Sohel and Azizul Bari Helal, and another 50 to 60 unidentified people.

In photos published by the media on Thursday, the ruling party activists had firearms on them along with sticks and bamboos.

The state minister skirted the issue by questioning the presence of BNP activists in the area around the court.

Police had foiled the attempt to ‘create a situation’, he said.

“What is the need of bringing thousands of activists to a safe place like the court? The aim was to thwart the trial procedure.”

Legal moves will be made against the guilty, he said.