At least 21 people have been killed in violence and police action on Sunday in what might be Bangladesh’s bloodiest election in recent
memory.
Polls for 147 parliament constituencies were held on Sunday since the remaining 153 have already returned winners without a contest.
According to police and witnesses, the deaths were reported from 13 districts before and during voting on Sunday.
The districts rocked by violence are Chittagong, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Feni, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Lakshimpur,
Munshiganj, Gazipur, Gaibandha and Jessore.
Chittagong: Police said an Islami Chhatra Shibir activist was killed when security forces opened fire to resist a group of people trying to
snatch ballot boxes from a polling centre at Lohagara Upazila in Chittagong on Sunday afternoon.
Lohagara Police Station OC Md Shahjahan told bdnews24.com that Shibir activists attacked Bhabanipur centre and tried to take away the ballot
boxes around 3:30pm.
The Shibir activist died on the spot when the forces opened fire.
Police, however, could not provide identity of the youth killed.
Nilphamari: Two activists of Jamaat-e-Islami were killed in clashes with the police at Dimla and Jaldhaka Upazila in the district.
Jaldhaka Police Station OC Moniruzzman said Jamaat and Shibir men swooped down on Balapara Primary School centre around 10:15am.
They were engaged by the law-keepers, he said. Jamaat activist Momtajuddin Ahmed, 50, was killed in the firing.
Dimla Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Abu Rafa Md Arif said Jamaat member Jahangir Alam, 35, died when police fired on attackers who
tried to seize Baparitala Alia Madrasa polling centre at around 3am.
Feni: A clash between anti-election activists and police left two activists of pro-BNP Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal dead at Sonagazi Upazila
in Feni.
Feni Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shamsul Alam said the clash erupted when activists of the BNP and its front organisations
attacked Uttar Char Chandia polling centre at around 10:30 am.
He said two police personnel were injured in a bomb attack forcing them to fire in retaliation.
According to Alam, 12 people were hit by bullets and Jubo Dal activist Jamshed Alam and Chhatra Dal man Shahidullah of them died in the
hospital.
Dinajpur: A Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (Jagpa) activist, a BNP man and an Ansar personnel were killed in clashes following attacks on poll
centres at Parbatipur Upazila in the district.
Witnesses said leaders and activists of the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance were locked in a clash with security forces at Monmothpur Cooperative
High School centre at around 11 am.
Jagpa Parbatipur Upazila unit committee General Secretary Raihan Masud, 22, was killed in the clash. He was the son of Golam Rasul of
Dangapara village.
BNP activist ‘Chunnu’, hailing from the same village, was killed in another clash between supporters of the Opposition and ruling Awami
League.
Earlier, Ansar member Wahed Ali died in an attack by miscreants at Shalandar Primary School centre at around 11 am. Another six people,
including the Presiding Officer of the centre, were also injured in the attack.
Thakurgaon: At least four people were killed in clashes in the district during the voting.
Police Superintendent Faisal Mahmud said security forces opened fire when strikers tried to snatch ballot boxes from Basudevpur polling
centre at around 2 pm.
According to police, Joynal Abedin, 35, and ‘Faruk’, 28, died in the firing. Eight others were also injured, one critically.
Another clash erupted between anti- and pro-election activists at Deuniabazar Gopalpur Primary School centre leaving two people killed.
Those dead were identified as Md Hanif, 24, and Lufor Rahman, 40.
An earlier UNB report said, mostly opposition activists, were killed in 11 districts as deadly violence broke out during the voting on
Sunday. The deaths were reported from Rangpur, Dinajpur, Feni, Nilphamari, Laxmipur, Munshiganj, Chittagong, Gaibandha, Thakurgaon,
Naogaon and Jessore In Dinajpur, four people, including an Ansar member, were killed in separate incidents of election violence.
Ansar member Abdul Wahid, 35, was beaten to death allegedly by 18-party activists in Parbatipur upazila. Meanwhile, Masud Raihan,
32, joint secretary of Parbatipur upazila unit of Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (Jagpa), was killed in firing by joint forces in Parbaripur
upazila. Besides, Babul Hossain, 45, a leader of Chehelgazi union unit BNP, was killed in police firing during a clash between
anti-election activists and cops in sadar upazila of the district in the early hours. Salahuddin, 15, who was injured in a clash with AL
men succumbed to his injuries at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital in the evening. In Thakurgaon, three BNP activists were killed in
separate incidents of violence over the election in Sadar upazila.
Of them, two opposition men were shot dead by police when another was killed in a clash with Awami League men. The deceased were
identified as Harun, 24, and Joynul, 25, of Basudebpur village, and Abu Hanif, 30, of Thakurgaon road area. Earlier, on Saturday night,
an assistant presiding officer, Zubaidur Rahman, was knifed to death by anti-election activists at a polling centre in the same upazila.
In Rangpur, two activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir were killed in police firing at Deuti in
Pirgacha upazila early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Mirajul, 35, a Jamaat activist, and Hadiuzzaman Hadi, 16, a Shibir
activist and a resident of the area. In Feni, two people, including a local leader of Jubo Dal and another of Chhatra Dal, were killed and
15 others were injured, including four with bullets, in a clash with police at North Charchandia village in Sonagazi upazila. The
deceased were identified as Jamshed Alam, 30, vice-president of No-2 ward of Sonagazi municipality unit Jubo Dal, and Shahidullah, 23,
president of Sonagazi upazila unit Chhatra Dal. Besides, anti-election activists looted 400 ballot boxes from Palgiri
Government Primary School centre while one ballot box from Char Koyat Government Primary School centre in Sonagazi upazila in the morning.
In Nilphamari, two activists of Jamaat-e-Islami were killed in clashes between police and anti-election activists at Balapara village in
Jaldhaka and Dimla upazilas in the morning. The deceased were identified as Momtajuddin, 35, an activist of Balapara union unit of
Jamaat, and Jahangir, 28, a local activist of Jamaat’s Beparitala unit. In Chittagong, an Islami Chhatra Shibir man was shot to death
by cops while Shibir activists were trying to snatch ballot boxes from Bhabaninpur polling centre in Lohagarah upazila on Sunday. The
deceased was identified as Enamul Haque Lalu, 21, son of Kamal Uddin of Khejurpara village in the upazila. In Laxmipur, a Shibir man was
killed and 10 people, including three with bullets, were injured in a clash with police at Border Bazar area in Ramganj upazila on Sunday
noon. The deceased was identified as Rubel Hossain, 22, son of late Bashir Uddin of the upazila. In Munshiganj, a local leader of
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal drowned in a pond after being chased by cops while trying to torch a polling centre in Tongibari upazila on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Kankan Miah, 23, joint secretary of JCD Kathadia-Shimulia union unit and son of Abdul Haque Master of
Purba Aldi village in the upazila. In Gaibandha, a Jamaat activist, Sahabul, was killed in a mass beating in Sundarganj upazila. In
Naogaon, a BNP activist was gunned down by police outside a polling centre at Chakdebiram village in Manda upazila under Naogaon-4
constituency at noon. The deceased was identified as Babul Hossain, 28, son of Nazar Ali of the village. In Jessore, a Jamaat activist,
Matiur Rahman, 20, was killed in police firing at Bajitpur village in Manirampur upazila at noon. – UNB
