4 killed in Narsingdi AL factional clashes

Four people were killed and at least 16 others injured in separate clashes between two factions of Awami League over establishing supremacy in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi yesterday.

The dead are Morom Ali, 45, Sohrab Mia, 30, Swapan Mia, 27, of Raipura's Nilakhya union, and Tofayel Rana, 16, of Bashgari union in the upazila.

All the four victims died of bullet injuries, police said.

Morom, Sohrab and Swapan were local AL activists of Nilakhya union while Tofayel was a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinee from Bashgari High School, said locals.

Police detained 13 people around 10:00pm yesterday for their alleged involvement in the incidents when they were trying to flee the area through the Meghna river, said Zakir Hasan, additional superintendent of police in Raipura.

The two factions of Bashgari union AL were led by former chairman of the union Shahed Sarkar and the incumbent chairman Sirajul Haque. They clashed each other with locally made sharp weapons and firearms, said Mohsin-ul-Qadir, officer-in-charge of Raipura Police Station.

The two groups had first clashed on Thursday with no casualties reported.

Yesterday's clash began around 6:00am as the two groups attacked each other. Tofayel was shot in the head during the clash when he went out of his room to respond to the call of nature. He died on the way to the hospital, police said.

In another incident, two factions of the Nilakhya union AL -- one headed by the union's former chairman Abdul Haque Sarkar and another led by incumbent chairman Tajul Islam -- clashed with each other in the noon.

Morom, Sohrab and Swapan were killed during this clash. They were supporters of Tajul Islam, police said.

As the news of Bashgari clash spread, the two groups of Nilkhya union clashed with each other, said locals.

The supporters of Tajul Islam attacked the followers of Abdul Haque Sarkar with locally made sharp weapons. The supporters of Abdul Haque responded by firing gunshots.

Muzaffar Hossain, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Raipura Police Station, told The Daily Star that the clash of Nilkhya union was an outcome of a long-time dispute between the two leaders of the union.

Among the 16 injured people, three were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Additional law enforcers were deployed in Raipura upazila to avoid escalation, police said.