A Jamaat-e-Islami activist has been killed and at least 19 others injured in a clash with businessmen in Naogaon. The trouble broke out around 9.30am on Tuesday after Jamaat activists damaged several shops in Raninagar while marching in a procession in support of its shutdown, police said.The party had called the daylong strike for the second consecutive day to protest the death warrant issued to its leader Abdul Quader Molla, convicted for war crimes.
Of the injured, Jamaat activist Shukbar Ali, 25, died in the afternoon, Jamaat’s Raninagar Upazila unit chief Mostofa Ibne Abbas told journalists.
Five vehicles including a motorcycle belonging to the local correspondent of the Bengali daily ‘Naya Diganta’ and seven shops were damaged during the clash, Raninagar Police Station OC Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury said.
Local businessmen, mainly Awami League supporters, resisted the Jamaat activists when they tried to damage a tractor and shops, witnesses said.
Both side attacked each other with sticks and traditional weapons.
The situation calmed after the Jamaat activist fled in the face of the traders’ resistance.
Shikbar Ali was first admitted to Adamdighi Upazila Health Complex and later sent to a Naogaon hospital.
As his condition worsened, h was sent to Rajshahi where he died around 4.30pm, said local Jamaat leader Mostofa.
Mostofa blamed the local Awami League for Shukbar’s death.
Police reinforcements had been sent to the area to prevent fresh violence, said OC Masud Chowdhury. – bdnews24.com
