30 hurt in BNP-Jamaat clashes in Nilphamari

In the fight for supremacy in the Jamaat stronghold, the rival activists chased each other in groups, turning the small town into a battlefield as pedestrians and residents took to safety and shopkeepers downed their shutters.

The Jamaat office was also attacked and damaged.

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Four of the injured -- Safiar, Masud Rana, Shahidul and Sumon -- are being treated at Jaldhaka Upazila Health Complex for critical injuries, sources there said.

On Saturday night, law enforcers led by ADM Netai Pada and ASP Ali Azam conducted raids in different areas and arrested four persons with lethal weapons, official sources said.

They are Shamim, Maizanur, Rahim and Shahinoor. Police said four to five feet swords were recovered from their possession but declined to disclose their political identity. They were in Jaldhaka thana when this correspondent contacted the thana early afternoon yesterday. Police said a case has been filed against them under the Arms Act and they would be produced before court later on the day.

A source at the thana seeking anonymity said some Jamaat leaders were trying for their release.

As tension mounted yesterday, one platoon of riot police led by an ASP and a magistrate have been deployed there to avert fresh clash, administration sources in Nilphamari said.

Witnesses in Jaldhaka said BNP activists led by Anwarul Kabir Chowdhury took position in the Petrol Pump area and Jamaat activists at Jaldhaka Bazaar.

Protesting the clashes, businessmen in Jaldhaka called an indefinite strike from yesterday.

Sources said once 'comrades' in Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Anwarul Kabir Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury are now arch rivals, fighting for political supremacy with their eyes also on economic gains for party men.

Anwarul Kabir is now Jaldhaka municipal chairman and upazila BNP president while Mizanur Rahman is the lawmaker from Jaldhaka.

Their fight for supremacy is going on for long, both abusing each other publicly.

The local BNP and Jamaat had clashed on May I this year, which prompted central alliance leaders to arbitrate. State Minister for Education Ehsanul Haq Milon tried a patch-up but failed.

Sources said the clashes apparently centred plan for development of Jaldhaka Bazaar.

Jaldhaka municipality earlier took up plan to turn Jaladhaka Bazar into a business complex and construction of a supermarket. So it served eviction notices in unauthorised shops and installations in the market area.

But the Jamaat MP objected to the move.

Anwarul Kabir allegedly used abusive words against Mizanur Rahman at Jaldhaka market recently. This angered Jamaat activists, party sources claimed.

Clashes ensued when Jamaat activists resisted the municipal authorities' eviction drive on Saturday.

But BNP and Jammat blamed each other for the clash.

Abdul Gani, general secretary of Nilphamari Jamaat, alleged that Kabir's comments evoked spontaneous protest by people.

"Terrorists (BNP men) led by Kabir first attacked the Jamaat office and local people resisted them", Gani claimed. "Kabir Chowdhury fled away in the face of public resistance".

But BNP sources alleged that Jamaat workers equipped with lethal weapons first attacked their party men in a pre- planned way.

Neither Mizanur Rahman nor Anwarul Kabir was available for comment yesterday.

Other sources in Jaldhaka said the Jaldhaka market is a big source of income. Besides shops, all trucks carrying boulders from nearby quarries and Burimari land port pass through Jaldhaka, which is a source of toll collection. Both BNP and Jamaat are now trying to control these.