At least 10 people, including a child, were injured during clashes between police and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activists in Rajshahi, Chittagong and Dhaka, on Saturday.
In Rajshahi, trouble erupted around noon, when the Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing brought out a procession at GanakparaMore, to demand release of jailed leaders accused of war crimes. They also shouted slogans, calling for a day-long countrywide shutdown. They allegedly smashed a car and five auto-rickshaws. A child and four other persons were injured in the violence.
Inspector Hafizur Rahman of Boalia Model Police Station said the Shibir activists had gone berserk, and police had to intervene.
Witnesses said Shibir activists hurled brickbats at police, who retaliated by firing teargas shells and rubber bullets. Three Shibir activists were detained by cops.
Rajshahi is a Shibir stronghold. Hours after opposition-backed candidate Mosaddeque Hossain Bulbul was elected the city’s mayor this month, Shibir activists had tried to wrest control of the Rajshahi University campus.
In Chittagong, ICS activists brought out procession from Kazir Dewriarea in the afternoon, and made its way to Ashkar Dighirpar. The procession was in support of their countrywide hartalcalled on Sunday. An ICS activist threw a cocktail at an auto rickshaw, injuring the driver. The auto driver, Mohammad Jamshed (26), was taken to a hospital with shrapnel wounds. Following the blast, Shibir activists left the place very fast.
Earlier around 9.30 am, ICS activists had brought out a procession in the city’s Gate No-2 area and blasted four to five cocktails.
Assistant commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police’s Panchlaish zone, Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf, said the Shibir’s Chittagong unit had brought out a protest rally from Sholoshahar, as part of the outfit’s central programme. “Police obstructed the procession when it reached Gate No-2. The activists threw cocktails at policemen chasing them away,” Rouf said. “No one was injured in the cocktail blasts and police could not detain any of the ICS activists,” he added.
In Dhaka, Shibir activists brought out several processions in different areas, and hurled several bombs.
Around noon, some Shibir activists organised procession and hurled several crude bombs in front of the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation office at Paltan. However, no one was injured. No one was arrested, as Shibir activists fled when police rushed to the spot. The outfit also brought out processions at Jatrabari, Gulshan, Kamlapur, Doyaganj and Mirpur.
-With The Independent input
