BNP police clash 50 hurt in Habiganj

Staff Reporter :
At least 50 people including BNP workers and police were injured in a clash between demonstrators and law enforcers in Habiganj on Wednesday.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear shell canisters to disperse the demonstrators and to bring the situation under control the situation in Lakhai Upazila at around 6pm.
BNP claimed that some of their leaders and workers received bullets and they were admitted to Upazila Health Complex and other local clinics.
Cooperative Affairs Secretary of BNP Central Committee G K Gaus said that the leaders and workers were holding a meeting in BNP Upazila office as part of the Sylhet rally preparation. At that time police suddenly attacked them, which led to clash between them.
Office-in-Charge of Lakhai Police Station Nunu Mia said, “BNP workers were taking preparation for violence in Bamei Bazar area. When they were obstructed, BNP workers hurled brickbats at the police. At least eight police were injured. Police in self-defence fired several rounds of bullets.”
He also said that the injured police personnel were admitted to Upazila Health Complex.
Police brought the situation under control and picked up Upazila BNP Convener Sheikh Farid.
Ahead of the BNP Sylhet rally, a tense situation was prevailing in Habiganj and it also created a sense of concern among BNP.
Meanwhile, BNP is again to face transport strikes in Sylhet and Moulvibazar ahead of the mass rally in Sylhet slated to be held on November 19.
Sylhet District Bus Owners Samity said that the strike had been called to protest the ban on the three-wheelers on the highways. However, the strike will be observed on Saturday from dawn to dusk.
On the other hand, Moulvibazar Bus-Minibus Owners’ Association called the strike for two days from November 18 and 19, Mizanur Rahman, chairman of Moulvibazar Bus-Minibus Owners’ Association said. BNP leaders of the two districts denounced the strikes and said the transport strikes were enforced as strategies to foil the Sylhet rally.
However, BNP has been facing such transport strikes since the inception of their divisional grand rally from Chattogram on October 8. But BNP said that such strikes cannot subdue their rallies.
Keeping all these matters in mind, BNP and its associate bodies have taken various strategies to avert police arrest and harassment ahead of the divisional rally in Sylhet on Saturday.
BNP is making their plans how the rally will be successful with the participation of tens of thousands of people.
In the last rallies, BNP leaders and workers used to stay in the residential hotels and relative houses around the venues, but this time Sylhet BNP has made arrangements for the night stay of the workers in the makeshift camps on the venue and hired the community centres.
The grand rally will be held on the Govt Alia Madrasa ground in Chowhatta area of Sylhet. The leaders and workers from different districts have already started reaching the venue to take part in various jobs before holding the rally on Saturday.
These leaders and workers are staying in the makeshift camps on the venue. As a result, the hotels and motels in Sylhet are not getting any advance booking.
The owners and concerned people of the hotels said that most of their hotel rooms are lying vacant ahead of the BNP rally. Many of the inmates had already vacated the rooms in fear of any untoward incident before the rally.
As Sylhet is a tourist spot, the tourists are not arriving in big numbers to stay in the hotels or motels. So the rooms are almost vacant. As a result, the hotel owners are incurring a heavy loss for a short time.
“The number of tourists is not many right now as the HSC exams are going on. On the other hand, people are not booking rooms due to the BNP rally,” Mridul Kanti, manager of Hotel Golden City in the Zindabad area said.
Meanwhile, President of Sylhet district BNP Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury said, “We are expecting four lakh people in the rally. The number may increase as mass upsurge has been created. Our leaders and workers may face troubles on the way. So we have erected makeshift camps on the venue for their stay to avert any kind of police raid or harassment.”
BNP said that at least 400-500 people would be able to stay in each camp. The camps will be named after different districts and upazilas.
BNP said that they wanted to hold a peaceful rally and sought the cooperation of the local administration.