Jamaat men attack cops in city

Several police among 25 injured, vehicles vandalised, 16 activists held at Karwan Bazar

Activists of Jamaat and Shibir set fire to a motorcycle of a police sergeant and pushed over a police van at Sonargaon crossing in the capital Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Rashed Shumon

At least 25 people including several policemen were injured in a sudden attack by the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir in the capital’s Farmgate and Karwan Bazar areas Tuesday afternoon. See a video link in the story.

The activists also set fire to a motorcycle at the Sonargaon crossing and vandalised a number of vehicles on the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

They also pushed over a police van.

Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station, told The Daily Star that they picked up 16 Jamaat and Shibir activists during the clash.

They made the attack while marching towards Sonargaon crossing from Farmgate, disrupting traffic movement and causing panic among the commuters and locals in the area.

Locals said the activists started pelting the policemen with brick chips as one of their escorting motorbike came under attack apparently by their political rivals in between Farmgate and Karwan Bazar around 4:30pm.

Four of them were injured seriously – Town Service Inspector of police Abdur Razzak, Jatiya Sramik League Tejgaon thana (police station) Secretary Md Shafiq, Tejgaon thana Jubo League leader Lokman and another Jubo League leader who was not named instantly.

Razzak, who was receiving treatment at Al Razi Hospital at Farmgate, said the activists of Jamaat and Shibir threw brick chips at him, leaving him critically injured.

To bring the situation under control, the inspector said, he fired two rounds of bullet but those missed the target to hit the attackers.

He said the Jamaat, Shibir men simultaneously brought out processions from three different locations between Farmgate and Karwan Bazar.

Source: The Daily Star