1 killed, over 170 injured in clashes in 2 dists

One person was killed and over a hundred others were injured in clashes during Eid prayers at five Upazilas of Habiganj on the Eid day. Petty arguments led to more clashes at Jamalpur’s Dewanganj. One ‘Shamim’, 50, was beaten to death in Begunai, a village in Lakhai Upazila of Habiganj district, when followers of the Union Parisad’s former chairman Morshed Kamal Moshahid and a former member clashed because ‘someone who didn’t fast came to say Eid prayers’. ‘We later recovered the body,’ Habiganj Assistant Superintendent of Police Mozammel Haque said. At least 50 others have been injured, he said. More sporadic clashes were reported in Lakhai, Bahubal, Ajmiriganj, Shayestaganj and Sadar Upazila over ‘not fasting in Ramadan’ or ‘delay in Eid-ul-Fitr prayers’. Number of injured topped a hundred. They are admitted to Habiganj Sadar Hospital. Twenty five people were injured when supporters of two local influentials, Latif Chowdhury and Ifty Chowdhury clashed during prayers at Shibpasha of Ajmiriganj, said ASP Nazmul Islam. Villages Pordokhola and Mirzatola of Bahubol and Kathakhali of Sadar Upazila and Charhamua of Shayestaganj too witnessed clashes over delays in holding Eid prayers, he said. Forty persons have been injured in these scuffles. At least 20 were injured when fighting between two rival groups disrupted prayers at Dewanganj in Jamalpur district. SI Anwar Hossain, of the Police Investigation Centre at Dewanganj’s Sananbari, said supporters of Char Amkhawa Union Parisad members ‘Jainal’ and his old rival ‘Nandu’, had a clash. ‘Joynal’s men stopped Nandu’s followers when they came to pray,’ said SI Anwar. Liton, 32, Hanif, 50, Alam Master, 58, Suruzzaman, 60 are among the 20 who were injured. The injured are admitted to Dewanganj Upazila Health Complex, according to bdnews24.com.