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| Bangladesh |
| AL factions clash over mosque land grab |
| 2009-04-29 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] An intra-Awami League (AL) clash over possession of a land owned by a local mosque, resulted in an imposition of section 144 in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur yesterday. The section 144, banning gathering of more than four persons in the upazila, was imposed at 4:20pm following the clash that left 10 persons injured, police sources said. Police said Md Hazarat Ali 75, son of late Md Zahurul Haque of village Mondolpara of Parbatipur Sadar upazila was critically injured and undergoing treatment in Rangpur Medical College Hospital. According to police and local residents the clash erupted when a faction of the local unit of AL led by Foysal Alam Biggan, President of Parbatipur Upazila Hotel Sramik League also a former Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader, at 2.00pm descended upon fruit vendors who set up their shops on the disputed piece of land, and drove them away from there. As the news of the attack spread, another faction of the party led by Md Amzad Hossain, Organisational Secretary of Parbatipur upazila AL, who had the possession of the land and rented it out to the fruit vendors, rushed to the scene with his gang and retaliated. In the ensuing clash both groups attacked each other with sharp weapons and sticks, creating a panic in the entire upazila headquarters area, which forced all shopkeepers to pull down their shutters. Biggan and his supporters also set ablaze some roadside shops and looted a number of them during the clash. Later Parbatipur fire fighters doused the fire. Police arrived at the spot after being informed and charged batons to disperse the clashing goons. Around 4.20pm Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Parbatipur Protab Chandra Biswas imposed section 144 to bring the situation under control. Police officials quoting witnesses said the two factions of AL have long been clashing over the piece of land owned by the mosque. Amzad grabbed the land soon after AL came to power this year and rented it out to local fruit traders. Mosque sources said there are 23 decimals of land owned by the mosque, and Azad faction of AL grabbed 3 decimals. Around Monday midnight some people damaged a part the boundary wall of Natun Bazar Jamey Mosque sparking tension among the mosque going Muslims and the AL factions. After the incident the Mosque committee informed State Minister for Forest and Environment Md Mostafizur Rahman Fizar about it, and the state minister instructed the UNO to resolve the problem. Md Mirza Abdus Salam, the officer-in-charge of Parbatipur police, said the situation was under control last night. Khalequzzaman Mukul, a member the mosque committee, said the state minister would hold a meeting last night with the two AL factions and the mosque committee to resolve the dispute, but till filing of this report late last night the meeting did not take place. |
| Posted by:Fred |