Ten injured in BNP factional clash

Sylhet Correspondent :

A clash broke out between followers of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s advisor Tahsina Rushdir Luna and acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s foreign affairs advisor Humayun Kabir in Bishwanath, Sylhet.

At least 10 people were injured. Later, the army and police went to control the situation.

The clash lasted for about two hours in front of the Bashi Bridge and Thana Gate in Bishwanath Municipality town at around 10 pm on Thursday.

The situation in the entire area is tense on Friday. According to local BNP workers, TahsinaRushdir Luna has been in the field for a long time to get nomination in the next parliamentary election in Sylhet-2 (Bishwanath and Osmaninagar) constituency. She is the wife of the former MP of this constituency and missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

Recently, UK expatriate leader HumayunKabir has also become active. He is known to be a close associate of BNP acting chairman TariqueRahman. Two parties are active locally around their nominations.

Recently, at a function in Dhaka, BNP Secretary General MirzaFakhrul Islam Alamgir said, ‘Humayun will contest from Sylhet.’ Since then, tensions have increased between the two parties, which led to clashes on Thursday night.

According to local sources, HumayunKabir’s election rally was held that evening in Daulatpur Union of BishwanathUpazila. Anger had been growing among Luna supporters since Wednesday surrounding the rally.

When Humayun’s supporters took out a procession in the municipal town after the rally at around 9:30 pm, a scuffle broke out between the two parties in the Basia Bridge area.

At one stage, a chase and counter-chase began. As a result, shops in the market were closed and traffic came to a standstill. Around 11:30 pm, the police and the army went and brought the situation under control.