UP chairman’s house, 3 vehicles torched, traffic halted
Activists of Jamaat-Shibir vandalised and torched two trucks on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda upazila this afternoon. The violence mongers were protesting the death of a union-level leader of Jamaat three days after he went missing. Photo: STAR
Activists of Jamaat-Shibir went on a rampage, vandalising and torching vehicles on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Sitakunda upazila this afternoon as the body of a union-level leader of Jamaat was found three days after he went missing.
The body of Aminul Islam, general secretary of Barabkunda union Jamaat unit, was recovered from beside the road in Ponthichila area of the upazila around 1:30pm, Md Shahidullah, additional superintendent of police in Chittagong (North zone), told The Daily Star.
The Jamaat leader had been missing since Sunday.
Jamaat supporters claimed that detectives picked up Aminul while a bus carrying him made a stopover at Comilla on his way back home.
The activists of Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, also torched three vehicles and vandalised around five vehicles on the highway, halting the traffic movement, said Zakir Hossain, officer in charge of Baro Aulia Highway Police Station.
As police rushed the scene around 2:30pm, the agitators hurled brick chips towards the lawmen and fled away.
No casualty was reported in the incident, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
The Jamaat men went on rampage immediately after the news of the body recovery spread in the area, creating panic in the locality.
Confirming the incident, Md Jahangir Alam, a sub-inspector of Sitakunda Police Station, told The Daily Star that the law enforcers halted the transport movement on the highway to avoid further vandalism.
Around 45 kilometres of tailback was created on the highway stretching from City Gate area to Mirsharai upazila following the clash.
Meanwhile, the Jamaat-Shibir men allegedly torched the house of Sadakat Ullah Miazi, the chairman of Barabkunda union parishad, following the highway disorder.
Locals said two tin-roofed rooms including the kitchen gutted in the fire while furniture of another room was also badly damaged.
Source: The Daily Star
