A case was filed against Hefajat-e Islam Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque and 16 other people with Paltan Model Police Station last night.
It was filed for allegedly torching vehicles, vandalising shops and looting valuables near the capital’s Baitul Mukarram National Mosque during Hefajat’s demonstration on March 26, Md Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of the police station, told The Daily Star.
Khandaker Arif-uz-Zaman, a businessman of Dhaka’s Wari, filed the case against them, the OC said.
Arif-uz-Zaman is also Dhaka South Jubo League’s deputy office secretary.
Besides, 2,000-3,000 unidentified people were made accused in the case, added the police official.
Leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), along with other ruling party men, who had taken position in nearby areas, threw brick chunks at the protesters and tried to push them back inside the mosque, witnesses said.
Protesters, however, regrouped and attacked the ruling party men, leading to the clash.
Police tried to bring the situation under control by firing tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.
It continued for around two hours, said witnesses.
The tension eased after 5:00pm when the ruling party men left the area. Hefajat men left too.
The Daily Star correspondents saw seven burnt motorbikes near the north and south gates of the national mosque. City corporation employees were seen cleaning up the street.
More than 50 people were injured in the clash, according to witnesses and journalists.