9 burnt alive, another shot dead at Kalshi

Ten people, including four women and two children, were killed in a series of clashes at a camp of ‘stranded Pakistanis’ at Kalshi in Pallabi in the city on Saturday. Nine of the deceased were identified as Baby, Lalu, his brother Bhulu, Sahanara, her five years old boy, Roksana, Afsana, Farzana and Ashique. Locals said the clashes erupted in the morning after Fazr prayers at Kurmitola Bihari camp, locally known as ‘Bihari camp’. A dispute over the use of fire-crackers sparked off the clash, police said. Dhaka’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shaikh Yusuf Harun said locals handed over nine bodies to police for autopsy. The 10th, injured in the clashes, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He appeared to have sustained bullet wounds. However, police’s Mirpur zone Assistant Commissioner Kamal Uddin said locals had used firearms during the clashes and it was not clear how the man had died. Earlier, a journalist of an online news agency, reporting from the scene, said he had counted nine dead bodies. Quoting locals, bdnews24.com’s photojournalist Asif Mahmud Ovee said miscreants attacked the camp in the morning and had set fire to at least 10 houses and damaged several others. But police’s Mirpur zone Deputy Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed claimed the clash was between ‘groups of Biharis’ over using fire-crackers. Seven bodies kept at a room of the ‘Stranded Pakistani General Repatriation Committee’ were identified as ‘Baby’, ‘Maruf’, ‘Farzana’, ‘Lalu’, ‘Bhulu’, ‘Sahanara’, and ‘Sultana’. Baby and Maruf are infants, said local Munna Hossain. Another camp resident, Abdul Shahjahan, claimed six of the victims were from the same family. DC Harun told bdnews24.com the residents had finally agreed to hand over the bodies for autopsy after he negotiated with them. bdnews24.com Staff Correspondent Golam Mujtaba Dhruba, reporting from the spot, confirmed that he had counted nine bodies being put on a police van, report agencies.