A senior leader of the ruling Awami League in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila was critically wounded at a shooting incident by criminals yesterday.

BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas yesterday said that the media distorted his statement regarding the disappearance of former BNP lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

Some ruling Awami League men yesterday alleged that Abdul Quader Mirza is the mastermind behind Friday’s bomb attack on the residence of his elder brother Obaidul Quader, also the general secretary the party.

BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas yesterday hinted that some people from his party had hands behind the disappearance of former lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

Although the top leaders of Hefajat-e-Islam repeatedly denied the organisation’s involvement in recent countrywide vandalism and violence, photographs and footages testify the opposite.

Former vice president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union Nurul Haque Nur has called the Awami League supporters as “fake Muslims”.

Maulana Abdullah Mohammad Hasan, a nayeb-e-ameer of Hefajat-e-Islam, has resigned from the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation, alleging that the Islamist group has turned into a platform that materialises personal agendas of some controversial Hefajat leaders.

A Gazipur court yesterday sent Rafiqul Islam, 27, popularly known as “Shishu Bokta”, to jail after he was sued under the Digital Security Act for delivering “anti-state and provocative” speeches.

In the face of recent violence by Hefajat-e-Islam, the police have beefed up security in different districts, including Dhaka.

Officer-in-Charge of Shalla Police Station Nazmul Haque has been suspended while OC of Derai Police Station Ashraful Islam transferred for negligence in duty during Hefajat-e Islam’s mayhem unleashed on Hindu houses in Noagaon village of Shalla upazila on March 17.

A Sunamganj court yesterday granted bail to a local Jubo League leader from Tahirpur, hours after he was detained for allegedly writing about Hefajat leader Mamunul Haque on Facebook.

Senior Awami League MP Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim yesterday told parliament that Hefajat-e-Islam is anti-Islamic, anti-independence, and “they are the enemy of the country”.

A group of leaders and activists of Hefajat-e-Islam blocked Dhaka-Chattogram highway, staged demonstrations, vandalised some vehicles, and ransacked a resort yesterday evening after getting a top leader of the organisation “rescued from confinement”.

India has said it has always been against fundamentalism and extremism and expressed confidence that the Bangladesh government would address the challenge posed by violent street protests by Hefajat-e-Islam during and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to that country.

Bangladesh authorities must conduct prompt, thorough, impartial, and independent investigations into the death of at least 14 protesters in the country between March 26 and 28, said 11 human rights organisations in a joint statement yesterday.

Hefajat men unleashed mayhem in Brahmanbaria during their hartal on Sunday after being divided into seven groups, according to locals and police sources.

Abdul Quader Mirza, younger brother of ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, yesterday decided to resign from his post in the AL.

At least 150 people were injured in separate clashes between police and BNP activists in Kishorganj and Noagaon yesterday.

Twenty eminent citizens in a joint statement yesterday demanded punishment for those responsible for attacking “anti-Modi” protesters and carrying out violence in Chattogram’s Hathazari in the last couple of days.

Four people were killed in Chattogram and one in Brahmanbaria in clashes between supporters of Hefajat-e-Islam and policemen after Juma prayers yesterday.