Published : 29 Jul 2026, 07:54 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:28 AM
The Habiganj district administration has imposed Section 144 restrictions in the municipal area to avoid any unrest amid duelling BNP and National Citizen Party (NCP).
This information was given in an order signed by District Magistrate GM Sarfaraz on Wednesday.
On Tuesday evening, local Chhatra Dal leaders and activists allegedly ambushed a vehicle carrying NCP leaders on their way back from a march in front of the town hall in Habiganj town unprovoked.
Police said that several vehicles of journalists were vandalised during this time. Several leaders and activists of the party were injured in the incident. In addition, the party's Chief Organiser (North) Sarjis Alam and Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari were blockaded. They took shelter in a Sonali Bank branch to escape the attack. Later, the police went and rescued them.
The order signed by the district magistrate said that due to the large number of leaders and activists of both sides and the ongoing tension, there is a risk of clashes, loss of life and property, and the deterioration of the law-and-order situation. Under the circumstances, Section 144 has been imposed in the entire Habiganj municipal area in the public interest.
The NCP had temporarily suspended its two previously announced “July Marches” in the Moulvibazar district and announced protest processions and rallies in Habiganj town. Fresh tensions arose in the area following the announcement of separate programmes by the district Chhatra Dal and BNP.
Law enforcing agencies are on alert to maintain order.
NCP leaders claim that local Chhatra Dal leaders and activists ambushed the convoy of Sarjis and Patwary on their way back from the march in front of the city's town hall in the evening. NCP leaders and activists, as well as journalists, were injured in the violence.
On the other hand, Chhatra Dal leaders allege that at a rally at the Shaheed Minar in Azmiriganj in the afternoon, NCP leaders called out BNP leaders by name, calling them “gangsters”. This sparked anger among Chhatra Dal leaders. In the evening, after the march at the town hall in the district town, Chhatra Dal leaders and activists protested NCP leaders.
When the incident was reported, police went to the scene and took the NCP central leaders safely to the Circuit House, said Habiganj Superintendent of Police Tarek Mahmud. Later, around 11pm, they were taken to Sylhet under tight police security.
