1 dead in Jamaat-police clash in Sylhet

Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir clashed with police, leaving at least one man dead and 13 others injured during a daylong general strike in Sylhet on Wednesday.

The casualty was reported at Biswanath Upazila in Sylhet and Jamaat-e-Islami claimed the man was an activist of the fundamentalist party.
The party, a key ally of the BNP, enforced the shutdown in four districts of Sylhet division demanding release of Sylhet City Jamaat Chief and Central Executive Committee Member Ehsanul Mahbub Jubair.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested him in a raid on a hotel in Dhaka on Mar 15. Currently he is under a five-day remand.
Wednesday’s shutdown covered Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts.

During the shutdown, Jamaat men brought out a procession in Karikona area of Biswanath Upazila and began picketing around 7:45am, Biswanath Police Station Officer in-Charge Abul Kalam Azad said.

“They charged with sticks when police intervened. They were showering stones at police. Police fired rubber bullets, shotgun rounds to bring the situation under control.”

Ten including two policemen were injured in the clash, he said.
“One Golam Rabbani, 25, succumbed to his injuries on way to Sylhet Osmani Medical College,” Azad said.

Jamaat claimed the youth was its activist. Rabbani was son of Nizam Uddin from Biswanath’s Khajanchi Union, said the OC.

Police also detained four protesters at the scene.

Separately, Islami Chhatra Shibir brought out a procession at Subhani Ghat area in Sylhet city around 7:30am, Sylhet Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Rezaul Karim said.

Later clashes broke out after police intercepted them, he said.
Picketers threw stones while police retaliated by firing tear gas and dispersed them. Four were injured in the clash.

Strict security measures were in place across the city.

Five Border Guard Battalion (BGB) platoons have been deployed to act as a ‘striking force’, BGB-5 Battalion Captain Lt Col Shafiul Azam said.

Traffic was thin. Few rickshaws and auto-rickshaws were seen plying. Long route transportations were grounded.

All trains from Sylhet Railway Station arrived and left on time, said the station’s Master Abul Kalam Azad.