Two die in clashes between Awami League factions in Joypurhat

Two people have been killed and at least 12 others injured in clashes between two Awami League factions over elections in Joypurhat’s Kalai Upazila.

Joypurhat Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 17 March 2019, 09:39 AM
Updated : 17 March 2019, 09:51 AM

Local police station chief Abdul Latif said the clashes occurred in the Moslemganj Bazar area on Saturday night.

Supporters of Awami League’s election candidate Minfuzur Rahman Milon had gone from Punt Bazar to Moslemganj Bazar, where they clashed with the supporters of Udaypur Union Parishad Chairman Wazed Ali, he said. Some stores were also vandalised in the area.

The dead have been identified as Aftab Hossain, 48, and Ratan Kumar Mahanta, 43.

Abu Musa, 42, Bayezid Hossain, 21, Abdus Sobhan Mandal, 40, and Rana Mia were critically injured in the incident and rushed to hospitals.

Locals say Milon had been elected for a third term in the Kalai Upazila election on Mar 10.

Another influential local leader, Matrai Union Parishad Chairman ANM Shawkat Habib Talukdar, had also vied for the Awami League’s nomination for the upazila chairman post.

Udaypur Union Parishad Chairman Wazed Ali’s support for Shawkat Habib Talukdar led to conflict between the two, according to local Awami League activists.

Both leaders have blamed the other for the clash.

“Milon’s activists and supporters attacked the Moslemganj Bazar with rods and sharp weapons,” Wazed Ali told bdnews24.com.

“They not only beat my activists and supporters, they also attacked locals who were not involved. They vandalised and looted at least ten stores.”

The UP chairman claimed the attackers fled when the locals ‘mounted a defence’.

Upazila Chairman Minfuzur Rahman Milon said Shawkat Habib Talukdar and Wazed Ali have been opposing him since he lost the nomination for the upazila election due to a grassroots vote. “Several of my activists and supporters were badly injured in an attack on Saturday night.”

“Two of them died overnight. I call for justice.”

The police moved to file a case over the incident.