BCL leader stabbed in Rajshahi over ‘intra-party’ feud

A local leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League was stabbed in an attack by his opponents at the Bhadra intersection of Rajshahi city this afternoon.

Mehedi Hasan Rimel alias Regan, a vice president of Rajshahi city unit of BCL, was admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital with critical injuries, Nibaran Chandra Burman, officer-in-charge of Boalia Police Station, said quoting doctors.

Regan was also president of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute unit of BCL, said the police official, adding that the attack was carried out as a sequel to his previous enmity with some BCL men from his locality Baliapukur.

According to police and BCL members, the incident happened around 3:20pm when Regan's group was crossing the Bhadra intersection on six motorcycles.

Some 10 men, armed with machetes, intercepted the motorcycles and assaulted them, witnesses said.

The attackers stabbed Regan and damaged the motorcycles before fleeing.

Locals and police rescued Regan and took him to hospital.  

BCL insiders said Regan had a feud with Torikul Islam and his followers, over the last few months, over getting a post in the party's city unit.

Torikul has blessings of the city's BCL president; however, Regan was made the vice president of the city unit, party insiders said.

This morning, before a function at the city Awami League office at Kumarpara, Regan assaulted Torikul, blaming him for infiltrating BCL from the BNP-backed Chhatra Dal.

Party seniors settled the matter immediately, but tension started brewing between the two groups led by Regan and Torikul.

When contacted, Rajshahi city BCL president Nur Md Siam claimed that the attack was not an issue of intra-party conflict, rather a personal feud between Regan and Torikul.