40 hurt in Muladi BNP factional clashes

Tarek Zia is scheduled to visit Hizla-Muladi area on May 15.

The rival factions are led by local lawmaker Mosharraf Hosssain Mongu and Zainal Abedin, central BNP law secretary.

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Three of the critically injured BNP activists were brought to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.

They are Muladi upazila Krishok Dal secretary Shahjahan Reza, Md Abdul Ali, and Solaiman, all belonging to the faction led by Zainal. The rest were being treated at Muladi Upazila Health Complex, reports from there said.

Police batoned the clashing groups and brought the situation under control.

A police team has been deployed at the upazila headquaters to avert further violence, official sources reached from here said.

Sources said activists belonging to Mongu group earlier prepared the wall of Hizla Upazila Parishad for writing slogans in favour of their group.

On Tuesday, Zainul group men wrote party slogans on those in the name of their leaders. This created tension between the groups.

On Wednesday morning, two activists of Mongu group erased the paintings and started writing on the wall in favour of their group.

Hearing the news, rival activists armed with lethal weapons attacked each other, ensuing clashes marked with chase and counter-chase.

The injured included upazila Krishok Dal secretary Shahjahan Reza and upazila BNP secretary Nawab Chowdhury.

When contacted in the afternoon, Hizla thana Officer-in-Charge Abdur Rahman said that the situation was under control and that police were deployed at the upazila haeadquarters and nearby area.

The rival factions blamed each other for the clashes.

Zainul was in Dhaka and Mongu was in the area when the clashes took place, sources said.