A Correspondent:
Bogrua: At least 31 people including five police officers were injured in a violent clash involving the activists of the BNP, the Awami League and police at Sherpur upazila in Bogura district on Wednesday.
Wednesday was the first day of the fifth spell of the countrywide 48-hour blockade imposed by the op-position BNP and its like-minded parties.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to bring the situation under control.
Witnesses said the BNP supporters led by district chapter BNP’s former convener and lawmaker Golam Mohammad Siraj brought out a procession in favor of the blockade on the Dhaka-Bogura Highway in Sherpur Bus Stand area around 11:45 pm.
At the same time, a peace procession led by Upazila unit Awami League’s Assistant Vice President Shah Jamal Siraji was brought out, and they allegedly chased the BNP’s supporters from the procession, they said.
At one stage, supporters from both sides hurled brickbats targeting each other.
Supporters of the ruling Awami League allegedly ransacked establishments including shops by the high-way during the clash, they said.
Shahidul Islam Bablu, president of the upazila unit BNP, told reporters in the front of the party office that 15 BNP supporters were wounded in the attack by the ruling party without any provocation.
Denying the allegations, Sultan Mahmud, general secretary of the upazila chapter Awami League, claimed that the BNP men swooped on them with brickbats and exploded cocktails when they were stay-ing on the highway in favor of peace. The attack left at least 11 AL supporters injured, he said.
Babu Kumar Saha, officer-in-charge of Sherpur Police Station, said five cops including him sustained injuries when the picketers threw brickbats targeting them.
He said police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the people, he said.
