Bangladesh: One dead, 18 injured in BNP factional clashes

Dhaka, Nov 10 (IANS) In an escalating factional clash within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one party member died and 18 others were injured in violent confrontations between the nominees and those denied tickets across several districts in the country, local media reported on Monday.

Reports suggest that in Mymensingh district, violence broke out in the Patbazar area on Sunday afternoon when supporters of BNP candidate M. Iqbal Hossain and nomination-deprived leader Tyabur Rahaman Hiron clashed during a campaign event.

Amid the chase and counter-chase, 35-year-old Tanzim Ahmed Abid, a supporter of Iqbal, collapsed and died while being taken to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.

Confirming the incident, Gouripur Circle Assistant Superintendent of Police Debashish Karmakar said Abid was suspected to have died of a heart attack, Bangladesh's newspaper The Daily Star reported.

Police further said that the clash resulted in vandalism at the event site, leaving at least eight people injured from both sides.

In a similar incident of violence, ten people were injured on Sunday when two BNP factions clashed during election campaigning in Laksham upazila of Cumilla district.

Citing witnesses, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported that a confrontation erupted after supporters of Samira Azim Dola, the daughter of former MP Anwarul Azim and a BNP-nominated candidate, Abul Kalam, got into an argument.

The altercation subsequently led to a chase and counter chase, leaving ten people injured.

Last week, at least five workers of the BNP were injured in a gun attack allegedly carried out by a rival faction of the party amid a dispute over local dominance in Raozan upazila of Chattogram district, local media reported.

In a separate incident, BNP's Chattogram-8 candidate Ershad Ullah sustained bullet injuries during a campaign event in the city's Bayezid area, while one of his associates, Sarwar Babla, was killed in the gun attack.

Additionally, BNP's youth wing Jubo Dal leader Md Alamgir Alam was shot dead on October 25 in a similar gun attack in the same Raozan upazila.

Furthermore, on October 28, one person was killed and 15 others were injured in Chattogram after a gunfight broke out between two factions of the BNP's youth wing.

BNP has also witnessed a surge in violence, with factional clashes leaving several killed and injured.

Khaleda Zia's BNP was hand in glove with the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected Awami League government.

--IANS

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