UZ polls: Cop, 4 others shot in Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar polls clash

Five people including a policeman suffered bullet injuries in separate clashes centering upazila parishad elections in Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar districts.

In Chattogram, a constable was injured by shotgun pellets in a clash between supporters of Awami League candidate and law enforcers at a polling centre in Chandanaish upazila.

The injured, Farhad, a constable of Chandanaish Police Station, was injured in the clash, said Officer-in-charge of the police station Keshab Chakrabarty.

The incident occurred when supporters of Nazim, who is contesting under the ‘Boat’ symbol, tried to take control of Purbo Chandanaish Primary School polling centre around 9:00am our Chattogram staff correspondent reports quoting the OC.

Contacted, Additional Superintendent of Police (Anwara circle) Mofizuddin said the alleged AL men opened fire targeting police forcing the cops to retaliate.

Following the incident, voting has been suspended in the polling centre, the OC added.

Meanwhile, the police constable, who was shot in his lower abdomen, is being brought to Dhaka by a helicopter from Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), said Assistant Sub-inspector Alauddin Talukder of CMCH Police Outpost.

His condition has been stated to be critical.

In Cox’s Bazar, supporters of two candidates traded gunfire near Noknama Government Primary School polling centre in Pekua upazila around 9:30am, reports our Cox’s Bazar correspondent quoting officer-in-charge of local police station Mohammad Jakir Hossain Bhuiyan.

Meanwhile, an eye witness to the incident, Mohammad Alamgir, panel chairman (1) of Noknama union parishad in Pekua upazila, said four people suffered bullet injuries in the incident.  

He claimed that supporters of Washim Bahini injured four people in the firing. Washim is Noknama Union Parishad chairman and is a supporter of Abul Kashem, a candidate contesting under the “Boat” symbol.

However, contacted in the afternoon, officer-in-charge of Noknama Police Station Mohammad Jakir Hossain confirmed the incident but said "there is no report of any injury yet."