Our Correspondent :
At least 15 people, including two police constables, were injured as the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, were locked in a clash with law enforcers in Rajshahi city on Saturday morning.
Witnesses said, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Chhatra Shibir brought out a procession in support of Sunday’s hartal around 8:30am. They staged a rally in front of Loknath School of the city.
The city unit Shibir organised the rally to protest the Supreme Court verdict that commuted death sentence of Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee to imprisonment unto death in a war crime case.
At one stage, Jamaat-Shibirmen hurled a crude bomb from the rally targeting a vehicle of patrol police near the school around 8:30am. In self-defence, police fired rubber bullets into the Jamaat supporters, triggering a clash.
Later, additional police rushed to the spot and dispersed the Jamaat men through firing rubber bullet and lobbing tear shell. “Jamaat-Shibirmen attacked my car when I was passing the rally. In defense, the law enforcers opened fire, triggering a clash,” said SM Sobhan, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Boalia Police Station.
The attackers hurled at least 10 crude bombs during the clash while police fired around 100 rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the unruly activists, he said.
The law enforcers picked up five Shibirmen from the spot, the OC said. Two police constables were among the injured, police said.
On the other hand, Shibir claimed that five of its leaders and activists of Rajshahi city unit, including its president Anwarul Islam and organising secretary Jasim Uddin, were injured in the police action.
