Staff Reporter :
Four more devotees died during the second consecutive day on Saturday of the three-day long first phase of Biswa Ijtema, began on the banks of the Turag River in Tongi after Fazr prayers on Friday.
The deceased have been identified as Tomiz Uddin, 65, from Cumilla’s Debidwar Upazila, Md Shahjahan, 60, from Brahmanbaria’s Ashuganj Upazila, Ali Asgar, 70, Barishal’s Gournadi Upazila, and Md Yusuf Ali, 45. from Narayanganj’s Bandar Upazila.
The latest fatalities takes the death toll in this year’s congregation to eight.The first phase of Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, will conclude after final prayer this (Sunday) morning.
The Ijtema began with “a’mbayan” (general sermons) by Pakistani Islamic scholar Maulana Obaidul Khorshed.
Thousands of devotees from home and abroad started thronging on the bank of the Turag River to take part in the religious event to seek divine blessings of the Almighty Allah.
Additional police have been deployed in and around the Ijtema venue to ensure security of the devotees. The venue has been brought under CCTV surveillance.
The concerned route traffics asked to use convenient way far from Ijtema ground from 4:00am to 3:00 pm on Sunday.
Tabligh Jamaat has been organising the congregation at the venue since 1967. In 2011, Tabligh split the Ijtema into two phases, dividing the participation of the people of 64 districts, to reduce pressure on the venue and ensure better management.
The second phase of the religious congregation will be held from Jan 17 t0 19.The followers of Moulana Zubair joined the first phase of Ijtema while the disciples of Moulana Mohammed Saad Kandhalvi, a Delhi-based member of the Tabligh Jamaat Supreme Council, are set to attend the second phase.
