AL, BCL men clash over bid for fair in Dinajpur

Five people were injured as activists of Awami League (AL) and its student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) locked in a clash centring the bid for traditional Baruni Mela in Nawabganj upazila under the district on Tuesday evening.
AL activist Md Noor Shamim filed a case with Nawabganj police station on Tuesday night, against 100 to 150 AL men including Md Ataur Rahman, general secretary (GS) of Nawabganj upazila unit of AL, and 13 other named ones on charge of attacking and torching motorcycles and party office during the clash, said police.
On Tuesday, open bid for Baruni Mela was held at the UNO office and Binoy Kumar on behalf of local Vishnu temple was awarded the bid for Tk 20,500.
But the local AL leaders pressurised him to sell off the bid and arranged another open bid for the fair in the afternoon.
As the price reached Tk 2 lakh, Md Ataur Rahman, GS of Nawabganj upazila AL, protested the matter, blaming BCL men for it.
Consequently, activists led by Md Ataur Rahman and Shahinul Islam Sabuj, general secretaries of Nawabganj upazila AL and BCL respectively, locked in a clash in front of Nawabganj police station.
They torched five motorcycles and involved in chase and counter chase, leaving at least five people injured.
BCL activist Md Reaz Hossain, 26, was bullet-hit on the hand as BCL leader Sabuj fired two shots from his illegal pistol, said the witnesses.
Police, however, denied any incident of firing during the clash.
Later, police brought the situation under control.
A tense situation was prevailing in the upazila over the incident.