We are extremely concerned by a report in this paper, from Rajshahi, of a police official being confined inside a shoe store by AL activists who allege that the law enforcers of Godagari Police station had beaten up their leader, the vice president of Godagari municipality unit AL who had gone to the police station to see why one of his men had been taken into custody. The police, on the other hand, say that the man they picked up had been trying to extort money from a contractor. Whatever the real story may be the idea of the ruling party men having the gumption to hold a police official hostage and getting away with it is very disturbing, to say the least.

The Godagari incident is an example of how untouchable some members of the politically powerful think themselves to be. The highhandedness demonstrated by these party men is symptomatic of the general indiscipline among the ruling party members. Infighting between factions within the affiliated organisations, for instance, of the ruling party has increased, sometimes causing casualties. A report in yesterday's paper informs us that a young man was shot dead and three others injured, in Munshiganj, in a clash between two factions of the AL over supremacy in an area. Highhandedness, often leading to violence, has become the norm among these belligerent factions which gives little comfort to ordinary citizens who are often caught in the crossfire.

We urge the authorities and the ruling Awami League to thoroughly investigate this incident and find out exactly what happened. Under no circumstances can political party members take law into their own hands and resort to bully tactics, that too to discipline law enforcers. Political leaders must rein in unruly party members.