Upazila polls: 10 hurt as police open fire on feuding groups
At least 10 people, including four police personnel, were injured when supporters of two upazila chairman candidates clashed in Pabna's Sujanagar upazila yesterday evening.
Locals said supporters of upazila chairman candidate Abdul Wahab were crossing Kalirmore where those of his contender Shahinuzzaman Shahin, also the incumbent chairman, were standing.
Md Jalal Uddin, officer-in-charge of Sujanagar Police Station, said the two groups at one stage got locked in a clash. Hearing this, police rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the groups. Somebody attacked police personnel forcing them to open fire, the OC said.
Police fired bullets to bring the situation under control, the OC said, adding that four police personnel were injured.
They also detained three people from the spot.
Those who sustained shotgun pellets are Badsha Pramanik, 40, Matin Sheikh, 50, and Abdul Awal, 35. They were undergoing treatment at Sujanagar Upazila Health Complex. Awal is the supporter of Wahab and Badsha and Matin are the supporters of Shahin.
Wahab, also Sujanagar upazila Awami League president, said suddenly the supporters of his rival candidate attacked his man.
This correspondent called Shahin, secretary of the upazila AL, for comments, but he did not receive the phone calls.
Additional police members were deployed in the area to fend off further untoward incidents, said Masud Alom, additional superintendent of Pabna police, adding that police opened fire when they came under attack.
Sujanagar upazila goes to polls on May 8 in the first phase.
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