Four injured in attack on N'ganj cultural activists

Injured Arif Bulbul

Unidentified assailants swooped on cultural activists in Narayanganj last evening at Chashara Shaheed Minar after a rally against Rampal power plant.

The attack left poet Arif Bulbul, 45, singer Shahin Mahmud, 35, cultural activist Amol Akash, 35, and poet Ahmed Bablu, 35, injured.

Witnesses said the four were attacked around 6:45pm after the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port staged a demonstration at Toki Moncho of Chashara Shaheed Minar protesting the government's decision to set up the coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans.

Badly injured Arif was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital while the three others were undergoing treatment at a local hospital, said Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Narayanganj Model Police Station.

Cultural personality Rafiur Rabbi, who presided over the rally, said those who were in favour of the power plant and against the Sundarbans carried out the attack.