15 houses looted by BNP intra-party rivals

Following the death of an activist on Thursday, BNP activists looted and vandalised some 15 houses of intra-party rivals in Sabdalpur union under Magura district's Sreepur upazila yesterday.
Police has been deployed in the attacked village, Amtoil, some 20 kilometres from Magura district town, and detained two persons -- Sajib Biswas, 25, and Sohan Shikder, 27, -- from the spot.
Many villagers have fled their homes fearing further attacks and police harassment.
On January 9, Ator Ali, loyal to Sabdalpur unit BNP General Secretary Rafikul Islam, was hacked allegedly by supporters of the BNP unit's Vice-President Abdul Malek Molla, said locals and police.
There has been longstanding rivalry between Rafikul and Malek over establishing supremacy, added the locals.
Following Ator's death in the capital's Popular Hospital, Rafikul's supporters, armed with sharp weapons, stormed the houses around 4:00am by introducing themselves as police, said locals and police.
They looted cash, gold ornaments, televisions, fridges, food grains, cattle and even tubewells, said Monirul Islam, one of the villagers.
No case has been lodged in this connection till 8:00pm yesterday.