AL-BNP men clash with spears, bombs in six villages

At least 50 people were injured in sporadic clashes between the rival activists of ruling Awami League and opposition BNP at Gopinathpur village of Nilakkhar Char in Raipura upazila yesterday.
Police said, BNP leader Abdur Rahim and Awami League leader Jaj Mia had long been at loggerheads over establishing political control over the village.
As a sequel to the enmity, the supporters of the two rivals clashed on Friday, leaving five people injured. On information, police brought the situation under control.
However, both groups equipped with lethal weapons including spears attacked each other at about 7:00 am yesterday, triggering a fresh clash.
Later, the clash spread to five other adjacent villages of Darigaon, Birgaon, Haripur, Amirabad and Shonakanda as around 600 armed rival villagers took part in it.
Chases and counter chases took place during the eight-hour-long clashes, leaving 50 injured from both the sides.
Around 100 crude bombs were also exploded during the sporadic clashes. Later, a team of police comprising 60 members went to the spot to bring the situation under control.
Most of the injured were secretly treated at Nabinagar upazila health complex in Brahmanbaria to avoid police harassment.