20 Jamaat activists hurt in clash with police in capital
FE Report | Wednesday, 6 April 2011
FE Report
At least 20 people were injured on Tuesday as the police fired tear gas shells and used batons on hundreds of activists of Jamaat-e-Islami who were demanding release of their top leaders in the capital. The police said the skirmishes occurred at about 5:20pm when policemen barred them from holding a rally at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram, the national mosque at Paltan. "We did not allow them to hold the protest programme for not taking permission from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)," a senior DMP official said. Being resisted, the infuriated workers of the party and its student wing -- Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) -- attacked the policemen by pelting brickbats, causing the violence. The riot police wearing vests and helmets lobbed dozens of tear gas shells and used water canon to disperse the violent activists who had turned the highly commercial hub into a veritable battlefield. At least 20 people were injured during the one-hour long chase and counter chase. Several vehicles were damaged in the area, halting traffic movements from Dainik Bangla crossing to Paltan crossing, causing immense sufferings to road users particularly the homebound people. Fifteen people were also picked up from the spot for the violence, a sub-inspector of Paltan police station said, adding that they charged batons and tear gas shells to maintain law and order in the area. The Jamaat activists were demanding release of their key leaders, including its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee. The leaders were arrested last year for their alleged involvement in war crimes during the country's Liberation War in 1971.
At least 20 people were injured on Tuesday as the police fired tear gas shells and used batons on hundreds of activists of Jamaat-e-Islami who were demanding release of their top leaders in the capital. The police said the skirmishes occurred at about 5:20pm when policemen barred them from holding a rally at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram, the national mosque at Paltan. "We did not allow them to hold the protest programme for not taking permission from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)," a senior DMP official said. Being resisted, the infuriated workers of the party and its student wing -- Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) -- attacked the policemen by pelting brickbats, causing the violence. The riot police wearing vests and helmets lobbed dozens of tear gas shells and used water canon to disperse the violent activists who had turned the highly commercial hub into a veritable battlefield. At least 20 people were injured during the one-hour long chase and counter chase. Several vehicles were damaged in the area, halting traffic movements from Dainik Bangla crossing to Paltan crossing, causing immense sufferings to road users particularly the homebound people. Fifteen people were also picked up from the spot for the violence, a sub-inspector of Paltan police station said, adding that they charged batons and tear gas shells to maintain law and order in the area. The Jamaat activists were demanding release of their key leaders, including its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee. The leaders were arrested last year for their alleged involvement in war crimes during the country's Liberation War in 1971.