22 lawmen hurt in Gaibandha Jamaat attack

At least 25 people including 22 law enforcers were injured when the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, made a surprise attack on Joint forces in Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha early today.

The Jamaat-Shibir men torched a pick-up van of police and vandalised nearly 12 houses during the nearly eight-hour clash at Kadamtala village in the upazila, Mofazzal Hossain, superintendent of police (SP) in Gaibandha, told The Daily Star.

The law enforcers managed to arrest five Jamaat-Shibir activists from the area, reports our Gaibandha correspondent quoting the police chief of the district.

When contacted, Shahidul Islam Manju, Sundarganj upazila unit secretary of Jamaat, claimed that nearly 20 leaders and activists of their party were injured in the clash.

The joint forces personnel came under attack around 1:30am when they went to Kadamtala village in Sarbananda union of the upazila to arrest the persons accused in different cases filed in connection with recent spate of violence in the district, said SP Hossain.  

A team of nearly 150 lawmen from police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) started the drive and managed to cordon off the village, the SP said.

Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the Jamaat Shibir activists resisted them, putting barricades at different points on the road leading to the village.

At one stage, the Jamaat-Shibir men swooped on the law enforcers with bamboo sticks and sharp weapons, forcing the members of joint forces to retaliate with gunfire.  

During the clash, 22 members of joint forces and three Jamaat-Shibir men were injured, the SP said.

The party men also hurled brick chips on the law enforcers during the clash.