Pleasure Trip Turns Sour on The Buriganga
4 drown, 10 missing as picnickers go berserk
Staff Correspondent
At least four people drowned and 10 others including a minor girl went missing in the Buriganga in the fallout from clashes involving two groups of picnickers and Ansars on board a launch at Sadarghat last night.Of the four, Shanto, Javed, and Shaheen were businessmen from old Dhaka while identity of the other one could not be known. The divers of Fire Service and Civil Defence recovered the four bodies and were scouring the area for more as of filing this report at 2:00am. "A three-member probe body was formed to investigate the incident," Additional Superintendent of Police (Dhaka circle) Mohammad Nozmul Hossain told the Daily Star. The fight broke out at 4:00pm when the launch 'MV-New Sun-4' carrying the pleasure trippers was passing under the Meghna Bridge on its way back to Sadarghat. Around 35 youths split into two groups brawled over some female picnic-goers. Most of them were drunk, a member of the musical band hired for the tour told The Daily Star. The launch pulled up in midstream at 5:00pm for the feuding youths to patch up but to no effect. Soon after the first clash, six to seven of one group left the launch near Postagola by a boat. Before leaving, they threatened the other group that they would soon be taught a lesson. As soon as the launch reached Sadarghat terminal at 7:45pm a gang of 25 people swooped on the ones on the deck. They beat up anyone they suspected of belonging to the rival group. The panic-stricken picnickers ran helter-skelter for cover while some tried to resist the raiders. But things got even worse with the Ansars charging baton to disperse the rowdy crowd. At that time, many including girls jumped into the water to escape the melee, said an eyewitness. The rescue operation started at around 9:00pm, Selim Newaj Bhuiyan, deputy director of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told The Daily Star. "The launch with around 200 people mostly businessmen from Dholaikhal left for a pleasure trip on Meghna at 11:30am," said Nahid, a member of the picnic party. Pankaj Babu of Sutrapur organised the trip that was open to all for Tk 300. The cabin floors and deck of the launch were littered with bottles of alcoholic beverages. The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police were deployed in the area thronged with people including relatives of the victims.
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