50 BNP men injured in ‘attack by AL’ in Cumilla

BNP alleged that their 50 supporters, including two bullet hit, were injured in an attack by Awami League (AL) in Lalmai upazila of Cumilla district on Saturday.

Houses and other establishments were also vandalised during the attack.
The bullet-hit Jubo Dal leaders Firoz and Monir were admitted to Cumilla Medical College Hospital, said BNP Chairperson’s Advisor and former lawmaker Monirul Huq Chowdhury.

He said they had a representative meeting at the house of Belghor Uttar union unit BNP’s Member Secretary Mofizul Islam at Undaniya village and he was supposed to attend the event at 4pm, UNB reports.

Meanwhile, he came to know that supporters of chairmen of Lalmai and Cumilla Sadar Dakshin upazilas Kamrul Islam and Golam Sarwar, also Awami League men, were staging showdown with firearms in the area around 2pm.

At one stage, the AL men, mostly hired from Bagmara area, carried out the attack on the meeting venue and opened fire, he said.

At least 50 leaders and activists, including two bullet hit, were injured in the attack, the BNP leader said, adding that the attackers looted valuables and vandalised Mofizul’s house.

Refuting the allegation, Sadar Dakshin Upazila Chairman and an AL leader Golam Sarwar said the BNP supporters opened fire on their procession when they brought a peace rally on Gouarbanga-Belghor road, leaving 8 to 9 injured.

Hanif Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Lalmai police station, said they learned about a chaos between two parties in the union and found no marks of firing on the spot.