House of AL nomination aspirant Ashikur Rahman in Bhola ‘attacked’

The home of Ashikur Rahman Shanto, an aspirant for the Awami League’s ticket in the parliamentary elections from a Bhola seat, has allegedly been attacked by his rivals in the party.

Ashikur said a group of people swooped on his house in the town’s Ukil Parha on Thursday afternoon when preparations for a meeting on forming committees for his campaign were under way.  

He said 10 to 15 of his supporters were injured and eight to 10 motorcycles vandalised.

Ashikur, a son of Bangladesh Jatiya Party’s late chairman Naziur Rahman Manzur, is gunning for the ruling party’s nomination.

Ashikur’s brother Andaleeve Rahman Partho, the incumbent chairman of BJP, was an MP from Bhola-1 seat.

Ashikur, a senior economist at Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, has pointed the finger at Ali Azam Mukul, the current MP from Bhola-2 (Daulatkhan-Borhanuddin), who was elected with the Awami League’s ticket, for the attack.

Azam is a relative of Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, who is a member of the Awami League’s presidium and the MP from Bhola-1 seat.

Ashikur said Azam’s supporters in the Swechchhasebak League carried out the attack.

“I will die but not submit to a savage like Tofail Ahmed. The fight will go on,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Neither Azam nor Tofail was immediately available for comments.

The meeting at Ashikur’s house was held later in the day.

Police, however, said the incident was not an attack.

They brought the situation under control when tension mounted after someone pelted brickbats at Ashikur’s house when the minister’s convoy was passing by, Bhola Sadar Police Station OC Sagir Mia said.

“And that incident also happened on the street in front of his house, not inside it,” he added.

Tofail went to Bhola to join a development fair at the Bhola Government High School as the chief guest.