In Gazipur’s Tongi upazila, two groups engaged in a bloody battle for control of the Biswa Ijtema ground early today, leaving three people dead and 26 injured.
At approximately three in the morning, Iskander Habibur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Tongi West Police Station, told The Daily Star that a fight broke out between Maulana Zobayer’s and Maulana Saad Kandhalvi’s followers on Ijtema ground.
The deceased are Bachchu Mia (70) from the village of Egarasindur in the Pakundia upazila of Kishoreganj, Mohammad Tajul Islam (70) from Bogura, and Belal (60) from Beraid in the Dakshin Khan neighborhood of Dhaka.
The other passed away from injuries sustained while traveling to a hospital in Dhaka, while the first one died at Tongi Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital, according to the OC.
Saad’s supporters were entering the ground from the west bank of the Turag River via a number of routes, including Kamarpara Bridge, when Zobayer’s supporters, who were already at the Ijtema venue, threw brick chips at them, according to local sources.
Around 3:00 am, the clash broke out as a result of retaliation from Saad supporters, reports said.
Several injuries have occurred in addition to the two fatalities. Hafizul Islam, who works in the emergency room of Tongi Ahsan Ullah Master General Hospital, stated that the injured kept coming to the hospital.
Shurai Nejam, the organizer of the first phase of Tabligh Jamaat Bangladesh (Zobayer faction), along with Habibullah Raihan, reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs had recently sent a letter to him.
The home adviser will meet with us this noon to finalize the Biswa Ijtema decision, he explained in the letter.
In contrast, elder Muaz bin Noor, a supporter of the Saad, stated in a video message, “We now control the Ijtema maidan. Zobayer’s followers attacked and martyred one of our brothers.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has dispatched four platoons to maintain law and order in the area.
