Shopkeeper killed ‘in police firing’

A 22-year-old man was shot dead by police during a clash between two groups of villagers in Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria on Friday, locals alleged.

But police said Faisal Mia, a shopkeeper at Kalikachha Bazar, died due to the explosion of a crude bomb thrown by locals.

Tanvir Chowdhury, medical officer at Brahmanbaria General Hospital, said there were more than 100 perforations on his chest and stomach caused by what appeared to be shotgun pellets.

Locals said the clash happened over a minor accident between a motorcycle and a three-wheeler.

Witnesses said the clash broke out around 7:30pm on one end of the village market, and the cement dealership where Faisal worked was on the other end.

Faisal shuttered the shop and was fleeing when he got shot, they said, adding that the place where he got shot and the place where the villagers were fighting were not the same.

His uncle Osman Haruni said when police came to the spot and started firing, Faisal got shot in the chest. He was rushed to Sarail Upazila Health Complex and later to Brahmanbaria General Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Sarail police in a text message to local reporters said they fired 70 shots to disperse the clashing villagers.

Mozammel Hossain Reza, additional superintendent of police (Sadar), said that Faisal seemed to have died due to an explosion of a crude bomb.

The exact cause of his death will be known after an autopsy at Brahmanbaria General Hospital.

Villagers Iqbal Mia and Dulal Mia quarrelled after the accident around Friday noon.

In the evening, both villagers along with nearly 100 others gathered at Kalikachha Bazar and engaged in a clash, witnesses said, adding that the groups blasted several crude bombs and threw brick chunks at each other.

Police soon reached the scene and calmed the situation.

At least 50 people, including a journalist, were also injured in the clash, police said, adding that three people were arrested from the scene.