Staff Reporter :
A factional clash foiled the council session of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Chittagong north district unit on Tuesday, injuring at least 13 leaders and activists of both the groups.
The clash erupted following a crude bomb explosion near the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Chittagong when the BCL council session was in progress in the port city.
Both the factions of BCL, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, engaged in a brawl as guests started leaving the venue in panic around 12:15pm, our local correspondent reported from the scene.
Some leaders and activists fell on the ground and suffered injuries while trying to make way through the rush of people.
Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Minister for Housing and Public Works, and local MPs and BCL General Secretary Zakir Hossain were present, among the guests.
“The attackers are not from the Chhatra League. They are infiltrators,” Minister Mosharraf Hossain said, ordering the police to attest the attackers in an attempt to restore order at the venue.
The bomb exploded when Chittagong Chhatra League President Sakib Hossain was addressing the event.
Five people who were injured in the brawl were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Local Chhatra League activists rallied at the institution premises in groups while police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel took position nearby. Minister Mosharraf Hossain and other guests finally left venue as the programme could not be resumed by 1:30pm. Soon after they left, the Chhatra League activists blocked traffic on the road along the institution.
Abu Tayeb, General Secretary of the prevailing Chittagong north district unit, blamed outsiders, especially Jamaat and Shibir intruders, for the unprecedented chaos in the session.
During the melee, the groups threw chairs at one-another and chanted slogans against each other during the incident, witnesses said.
A cocktail went off in the council auditorium when the BCL vice-president was delivering his speech, triggering the clash between two rival groups of BCL, said Jasim Uddin, Officer-in-Charge of Chittagong city Kotwali Police Station.
“The council session was foiled due to the infighting,” the OC said.
Additional Police were deployed in the area to fend off any further unwanted situation, he added
