Staff Reporter :Seven people, including Officer-in-Charge of Bhanga Police Station, were injured by shots allegedly fired from the shotgun of an Awami League leader during a street rally of party’s Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah in Faridpur on Saturday.The police official, Nazmul Islam, received minor injuries and joined his work after primary treatment while six others were sent to Faridpur Medical College Hospital, said AL Upazila Unit President Kazi Hedayet Ullah Sakline.”Bullets from the shotgun of AL upazila unit Vice-President Dipak Majumdar’s bodyguard wounded seven people at about 8:30 am,” OC of Bhanga Police Station Nazmul Islam said.Six other injured were identified as local AL leaders: UP Member of Charmanai Union Parishad Saheb Ali, President of AL Unit-3 at Azimnagar Union Sobhan Miah, AL activists of Parayan village under Kawlibera Union Zamir Matubbar and Forman Matubbar; AL activists of Charmanay village Shahjahan Miah and Imarat Akond. They were at first admitted to Bhanga Upazila Health Complex. Later, they were shifted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital when their condition deteriorated. Health and Family Welfare Officer of Bhanga Upazila Health Complex Imran Ali said, “The OC received minor injuries in his nose. He was freed after giving first aid. Other six received splinter injuries in the chest, abdomen and other body parts.” Dipak Majumdar, however, claimed that he was not present at the meeting at that time and none was injured by the bullets shot from his shotgun.On the other hand, Kazi Zafarullah did not make any reply despite repeated calls to his cellular phone yesterday. Nezarat Deputy Collector [NDC] Robayet Hayat Shiplu said the incident took place at Kumpar area of Parayan village under Kawlibera union of Bhanga upazila. Bhanga Upazila AL President Kazi Hedayet Ullah, who was present at the meeting, said, “The shot was fired from the shotgun of Dipak Majumdar. But he [Dipak] was not present in the meeting. He had kept his gun to another man, who pulled the trigger mistakenly.” However, former UP Chairman Rawshan Kabir claimed that the bodyguard of AL leader fired the gun shot in order to settle an altercation between his supporters and the villagers. “The supporters of Kazi Zafarullah locked in an altercation with the villagers while the former lawmaker was returning to his rally venue after laying the foundation of a local bridge. At one stage, Dipak fired the gunshot in order to bring the situation under control,” he said.According to the locals, the main reason behind the shootout is that Kazi Zafarullah went to inaugurate the bridge for second time though it was earlier inaugurated by another ruling party MP Nixon Chowdhury.President of Munshi Bazar Shop Owners Association Ali Hossain said, “The bridge adjacent to the local market was inaugurated by Nixon Chowdhury last week. But Zafarullah again came to inaugurate the bridge. It irked the local people. Later, there were gunshots in the meeting.” It is to be noted that Nixon Chowdhury won the Faridpur-4 constituency as a rival candidate by defeating AL’s officially nominated candidate Kazi Zafarullah on January 5 elections. No case was filed with the concerned police station in this connection till the time of filing of this report at 10:00 pm yesterday.
