Home
+
The violence began soon after the opposition party started its rally in Naya Paltan
Published : 28 Oct 2023, 02:44 PM
The BNP rally in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan has been called off after clashes with police and Awami League activists at the Kakrail intersection, prompting the opposition party to announce a day-long nationwide hartal for Sunday.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programme during its rally in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan on Saturday.The BNP leader said the hartal came in response to an attack on its party headquarters in Naya Paltan, gunfire, and the unjust use of tear gas surrounding the rally.
The Kakrail area turned into a battlefield on Saturday after a clash with Awami League activists kicked off around 11:30 am. BNP activists then surrounded the party leaders on stage and chanted slogans.
Witnesses say that vehicles were vandalised and torched during the violence. Activists were seen in front of Willes Little Flower School with sticks in hand. BGB personnel were sent out on patrol to try to bring the situation under control.
Clashes were reported from the chief justice’s residence to the Nightingale intersection. The BNP activists threw brickbats, while police deployed tear gas and sound grenades. Several people were injured in the clashes.
Four people, including a Jamaat activist, were brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment as of 1:30 pm, said Inspector Bachchu Mia of the hospital’s police outpost.
Twenty-two police personnel were sent to the Rajarbagh Police Hospital with injuries, while another 19 were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, according to KN Roy Niyati, assistant deputy commissioner and police spokesman.
An Essential Drugs employee – 50-year-old BM Raju Kamal – was also injured near the Kakrail Mosque intersection.Kamal said he set off on a vehicle from the Satrasta intersection to Gulistan when the vehicle was attacked near the mosque around 12:30 pm.
According to an eyewitness, many BNP activists had taken up positions at the Shantinagar and Kakrail intersections ahead of the rally when pickup vans carrying Awami League activists chanting slogans passed by.
BNP activists surrounded the pickup vans and Awami League activists armed themselves with sticks. The two sides then became embroiled in a chase and counter-chase. Later, police joined in.
Shohag, a passerby, said he saw Sheikh lying bleeding on the road and brought him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 1:15 pm.
An Essential Drugs employee – 50-year-old BM Raju Kamal – was also injured near the Kakrail Mosque intersection.
The BNP had announced a rally in Naya Paltan on Saturday, while the Awami League declared a counter-programme at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. Jamaat-e-Islami also held an ‘unauthorised rally’ in the Arambagh area at the same time.
A Jamaat activist named Naib Ali Sheikh, 60, was injured by police fire around 12:30 pm.Police opened fire as Jamaat activists were breaching the barricades in Arambagh, said Sheikh, who identified himself as a member of the party. He said a bullet hit him on his left leg.
Shohag, a pedestrian, said he saw Sheikh lying bleeding on the road and brought him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 1:15 pm.
