AL factions clash in Meherpur

At least 50 people were injured, four with bullets, in a clash between two factions of ruling Awami League in Gangni upazila of Meherpur yesterday.
One of the bullet-hit was Al Faruq Abdus Salam, younger brother of former lawmaker of Meherpur-2 (Gangni) Mokbul Hossain, while others were local AL and BCL activists, Ismail Hossain, Naharul and Selim.
Faruq and Ismail were rushed to Dhaka as their condition was stated to be critical and the two others were shifted to Kushtia General Hospital from Meherpur General Hospital.
The clash took place over a previous enmity between the factions-- one led by Mokbul Hossain and the other by Gangni upazila AL president Sahiduzzaman Khokon and general secretary of the same unit MA Khaleq.
According to sources, Khaleq's supporters had arranged a welcoming ceremony on his return from China as an entourage member of the prime minister, and a group of people broke the arches erected for the ceremony.
Khaleq's group blamed Mokbul Hossain's group for this. To protest, Mokbul with his cohorts brought out a procession on Wednesday and at one stage, both the factions were locked in a clash leaving about 50 others injured.
Yesterday's clash erupted after a few men of Sahiduzzaman's group beat up Anarul, an activist of Mokbul's group, at bazaar area at 12:00 noon. In the following one and half hours, both the factions blasted homemade bombs and exchanged gunshots leaving around 50 injured.
Police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.