Four of a family killed in Magura polls violence
Four of a family were killed and several others injured as supporters of two UP member hopefuls in the Jagdal Union Parishad elections clashed in Magura Sadar upazila yesterday.
Police and locals said there had been a long-standing conflict between Nazrul Islam, incumbent member of ward-3 (Dakshin Jagdal), and Syed Ali over becoming candidate of the ward.
Around 4:00pm, Nazrul and Ali locked into an altercation when Ali declared himself as the member candidate for the ward in the UP polls, scheduled to be held in the second phase on November 11, they said.
Both are inhabitants of Dakshin Jagdal village.
Following this, supporters of Nazrul attacked those of Ali around 5:00pm. The two groups then attacked each other with sharp weapons and iron rods in Dakshin Jagdal village, injuring 20 people, they added.
Four of them died on the way to Magura Sadar Hospital, said on-duty doctor Rafikul Islam, adding that the others were undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Kamrul Hasan, additional superintendent of Magura police, confirmed the incident.
Additional police personnel have been deployed in the area to avoid any further untoward incidents, he added.
The four deceased are Sabur Mollah, 60, his brother Kabir Mollah, 55, of Dakshin Jagdal village and cousins Rahman Mollah and Imran Mollah.
Sabur, Kabir and Rahman are supporters of Ali, while Imran is a follower of Nazrul, said Rafiqul Islam, chairman of Jagdal Union Parishad.
He told The Daily Star that both Nazrul and Ali are involved in local AL politics. A long-standing conflict has been going on between them over establishing dominance in the area, he added.
Merina Molla, wife of deceased Sabur, alleged that Nazrul and his supporters hacked her husband to death in broad daylight over the UP election. "I want punishment of all the culprits."
This correspondent could not contact Nazrul and Ali for comments as their mobile phones were found switched off.
No case was filed till filing of this report around 9:00pm.