A clash between activists of the Hifazat-e Islam and Awami League at Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar has left one person dead, police say.
The clash which also left another injured broke out at around 6pm on Friday, DMP’s Lalbagh division Deputy Commissioner Harunur Rashid told bdnews24.com in the evening.
Mohammad Shahid Hossain, 36, was declared dead when he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with bullet injuries. The other injured, Iqbal Hossain, was also taken there.
DC Rashid said police had to fire teargas and several rounds from their guns to quell violence. The two sustained bullet injuries at the time, he added.
The deceased, Shahid Hossain, was a ruling Awami League activist.
Eyewitnesses said activists of Hifazat-e Islam took out a procession from local Jamia Nuria Islamia Madrasa in the afternoon. But the clash ensued when local activists of the ruling party took out another procession to resist them.
Later, police dispersed them. Additional police forces were also deployed in the area.
Hifazat, a radical Jamaat-e-Islami-backed group, is set to hold a rally on Saturday at the Shapla intersection at Motijheel following their long march from Chittagong to Dhaka on Friday demanding punishment of ‘atheist’ bloggers.
They are pressing for a six-point charter of demands. Allegations against them surfaced that they were working on behalf of Jamaat, whose top leaders are standing trial for alleged war crimes.
Meanwhile, 25 socio-cultural-professional organisations have started a 24-hour shutdown from 6pm Friday to thwart the Hifazat programme. Left-leaning parties have also endorsed the strike.
Shahbagh’s Ganajagaran Mancha, whose initiators – the bloggers and online activists – are targets of the Hifazat, has also begun their preannounced nationwide road, rail and waterways blockade from 6pm to resist the Hifazat programmes.
Source: bdnews24
