Police, drug smugglers clash
At least 25 injured
At least 25 people, including 10 policemen, were injured in a clash between law enforcers and drug smugglers in Bhabarber village of Benapole yesterday.
The injured policemen include an assistant superintendent of police and Benapole Police Station's officer-in-charge.
Police and locals said a police team from Jessore raided the Bhabarber village railway station to arrest several accused in a drugs smuggling related case.
Later, police arrested an alleged smuggler Mostafa and beat him up.
At the time of the beating, former president of Sharsha upazila unit Chhatra League Tariqul Alam Tuhin, who was present on the spot, intervened and asked police to take Mostafa away to the police station instead of torturing him, said witnesses.
Angered at the interference, police also beat Tuhin up leaving him seriously injured.
As the news about the police action spread, some smugglers blocked the Benapole-Jessore highway for about two hours. The clash ensued when police went to remove the blockade from the highway, said locals.
Police fired five rounds of bullets when they came under attack and managed to disperse the mob. Law enforcers recovered a bomb and a pistol from the spot and arrested two of the agitators , said police.
Additional police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel, and members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward situation, said police sources.
Police filed a case against 24 men and three hundred unknown people in this connection.
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