Man killed, 20 bullet hit

A man was killed and over 20 were injured when two groups of villagers locked in a gunfight over establishing supremacy in Titas upazila of Comilla Monday morning.

Dead victim Delawar Hossain Dilu, 40, was a trader.

Of the injured, the condition of four people-- Mohsin, 16, Nayan, 17, Babu, 20, and Bandar Ali, 42--was stated to be critical.

The gunfight is a sequel to a long standing clash, reported a correspondent from Daudkandi quoting Debashish Dutt, a sub-inspector (SI) of Titas Police Station.

The two-hour-long gunfight ensued around 6:00am in Shahpur village when the gun-totting villagers divided into two groups and started to open fire, the SI said.

Md Farroque Miah, a former chairman of Majidpur Union Parishad, led a group while Shah Alam Shanti, a cousin of Farroque, headed the other in the clash.

Farroque is a supporter of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) while Shanti is a member of convener committee of the upazila unit of Awami League.

During the clash, Dilu, Mohsin, Nayan, Babu, Bandar and more than 16 people sustained bullet injuries.

Dilu, Mohsin, Nayan, Babu and Bandar were rushed to Daudkandi Upazila Health Complex.

Later, Dilu succumbed to his injuries at the health complex around 8:30am.

The doctor of the health complex referred the four others to DhakaMedicalCollege and Hospital as their condition deteriorated.

The other injured were admitted to several other local clinics.

In the early hours of Monday, the villages also clashed with each other hurling brick chips, said Abdul Malek, a freedom fighter of the village.

On information, police rushed to the spot around 8:00am and bring the situation under control.

Several injury marks were spotted on the body of the deceased and injured, said Sarfaraj Hossain Khan, residential medical officer of the health complex.