Road Barricade After Bus Kills Man In Nilphamari

11 policemen among 50 hurt in clash with mob

Rubber bullets fired

14 January 2009, 18:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Nilphamari

At least 50 people including 11 policemen and three newsmen were injured in clashes marked with firing of rubber bullets by police yesterday. Police tried to remove a barricade on Nilphamari-Saidpur highway, raised by locals protesting death of a man under the wheels of a bus. The injured included ASP Sazzadur Rahman. A police van and an ambulance were also damaged as police clubbed the protesters who barricaded the road for over three hours, creating a snarl-up of vehicles on both sides. Locals and police sources said betel leaf trader Abdul Jabbar, 18, son of Habibar Rahman of Nagor Darwani Molla Para village in Sadar upazila, was killed on the spot and another man was seriously injured when a Saidpur-bound mini bus carrying passengers dashed his rickshaw van from behind at Darwani Textile Mill gate market. The driver fled away with the mini bus towards Saidpur. Several hundred people gathered there and blocked the highway as this was the third death on the spot under wheels. The officer-in-charge of Sadar police station said as locals raised the barricade, police team was dispatched, who tried to clear the road but the protesters pelted brickbats at police, injuring ASP Sazzadur Rahman and 11 police men. Police at first charged batons to disperse them, fuelling the violence. Then police fired at least 15 rubber bullets. Three local newsmen were also injured. They are Ratan Sarkar of ATN Bangla, Anjarul Islam Jewel of Bangla Vision and the daily Naya Diganta correspondent. The injured ASP, 10 police men and six locals were admitted to Nilphamari Sadar Hospital. Others were taken to other hospitals. Later, local lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor of Awami League and high police officials rushed to the spot. They persuaded the agitated people to withdraw the road blockade at about 1 pm. Police filed a case with Nilphamari police station accusing 300 unnamed people, detained the mini bus and arrested its driver from Saidpur.