At least 20 people were injured in a clash between the activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and its volunteers’ wing Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal over occupying a wholesale market at Rupganj in Narayanganj on Tuesday.
The incident involved gunfire, vandalism and arson, which also left two persons named Rafi Ahmed Swapan and Raju Bhuiyan with gunshot wounds.
Mehedi Islam, assistant superintendent of police in Narayanganj, said that although the situation was normal as of 8:00pm, additional police were deployed in the spot.
‘No formal complaints have been filed, and none have also been arrested yet. But efforts are underway to recover weapons used in the clash,’ he added.
Mehedi Islam mentioned that the clash was erupted from a long-standing dispute over Bismillah wholesale market in Saoghat area, adjacent to the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, between chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Group, Selim Pradhan, and a local businessman Mujibur Rahman.
Mujibur Rahman claimed that he rented the land from Selim Pradhan for 10 years on a contractual basis and built a wholesale market of fruits and vegetables and had been using it ever since.
Meanwhile, Selim accused Mujibur of forcibly occupying the land using a fake contract, mentioning that he constructed the market illegally.
Witnesses said that the tension escalated when district unit JCD former vice-president Masudur Rahman and his associates supported Selim in reclaiming the land.
Meanwhile, district Swechchhasebak Dal joint convener Rafiqul Islam led a protest procession against extortion and terrorism in the area. The violence broke out when bricks were allegedly thrown at Rafiqul’s procession from inside Selim Pradhan’s house.
Rafiqul Islam said that they were attacked with bricks and weapons when they were peacefully protesting against extortion and terrorism.
Masudur Rahman claimed that he was not present at the scene, but he heard that an attack was made on his associates. An SUV belonging to Selim Pradhan was set on fire, while seven to eight motorcycles were vandalised and torched, said Mehedi Islam.
Surrounding markets, including Gausia Market, Tantbazar and Haji Shopping Complex, were shut down in panic.
Rupganj upazila nirbahi officer Saiful Islam assured that action would be taken against those involved in the incident.
He also mentioned that they planned to approach the High Court to determine the rightful ownership of the wholesale market.
