Raids in Satkhira Jamaat dens kill 5

Five Jamaat-Shibir activists were killed in clashes with joint forces in Satkhira, a southern district that virtually turned into a valley of terror during recent hartals and blockades of the opposition.
Of them, three died in sadar upazila while two in Debhata upazila in separate battles that ensued when the party supporters attacked the law enforcers who went to make arrests in connection with the latest spate of violence.
In protest, the party called a hartal in the district for today.
Enraged by nonstop Jamaat rampage over the last few weeks, locals yesterday vandalised and torched some 15 houses of the party men, including its Satkhira Ameer Abdul Khaleque.
At least 13 persons, including nine from AL and its associate organisations, have been killed in the district since November 21.
To bring Satkhira under control, law enforcers started a drive against Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organisation Islami Chhatra Shibir by arresting 16 activists Saturday night.
Four of the arrested were involved in killing an Awami League man last week while the rest in attacking police and blocking roads, police said.
Additional Home Secretary Kamal Uddin Ahmed said, "We have formed forces comprised of Rab, BGB and police personnel and they have been deployed across the country to contain violence."
The forces are preparing crackdowns on Jamaat-Shibir men who have been fighting with law enforcers and attacking Hindus in Lalmonirhat over the past weeks, reported our correspondent.
Many Hindu families and Awami League men in Patgram upazila of the northern district have fled following repeated threats from Jamaat and its student wing.
On Sunday morning, three Shibir members were killed in a clash with police in the upazila. Their fellow activists later hacked an AL activist to death in broad daylight.
After the BNP-led opposition yesterday evening announced a three-day blockade, sticks-wielding Jamaat-Shibir men brought out processions in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila.
In the early hours, six idols of a temple were vandalised at Shafinagar village of Patgram.
“Over a hundred Jamaat-Shibir men carrying with sharp weapons marched through the area till midnight,” caretaker of the temple Harendra Nath Roy said, adding Jamaat-Shibir men might have destroyed the idols.
Laxmipur, another violence-hit district, local BNP leader Asaduzzaman Babul and his follower Khorshed Alam Sumon were killed in a “shootout” when Rab were conducting a raid to arrest them around 11:00pm on Sunday.
Babul's wife told our reporter that Rab personnel stormed her house, shot dead her husband and left the area taking away the body.
On Sunday, Mirajul Islam, 22, a Chhatra League activist, was killed in the district. Alleged Jamaat-Shibir men attacked him on his way to a relative's house and slit his throat.
Earlier on Thursday, the district town turned into a battle zone after a Rab team raided the house of local BNP leader Sahabuddin Sabu.
Activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, a pro-BNP student body, engaged in a clash with the Rab team in Chawkbazar area. Three people were killed as Rab personnel opened fire to bring the situation under control.