Tuesday • January 09, 2007

Second day's program sees cops in merciless action; clashes with activists

Police hell-bent on foiling blockade, none spared

Police armed with batons, rubber-bullet guns and tear gas launchers poured their seemingly inexplicable wrath on whomever they found in their way during the second day of the 3-day blockade program yesterday in the capital. Due to the nationwide program, called by the opposition mega-combine, Dhaka remained virtually cut off from the rest of the country.

At nearly a dozen spots of agitation police swooped on the Awami League-led mega-combine leaders, workers and sympathizers in full fury. While at places they attacked processions unprovoked from the rear catching the activists unawares, at some other spots the demonstrators locked into fierce clashes with the police. They were seen showering brick-chips on the police, with the law enforcers chasing them into lanes and alleys from the main streets firing rubber bullets, lobbing tear gas canisters, and also throwing back stones. At almost all the spots, police used batons mercilessly on the activists, not sparing women workers and passersby and curious onlookers.

Over 400 people, mostly workers of the Awami League-led mega combine suffered injuries in the capital, Chandpur, Savar and elsewhere across the country in clashes between pickets and the law enforcers on the second day of the three-day non-stop rail-road-waterway-port blockade. Police picked more than 700 pickets from different spots during clashes in the capital.

The Awami League-led mega-combine comprising the 14-party alliance, Jatiya Party (Ershad), Liberal Democratic Party, Zaker Party and a faction of the Islami Oikya Jote called the three-day blockade program since Sunday morning demanding resignation of President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed from the post of Chief Adviser, rescheduling the polls, publication of a corrected, flawless and updated voter list and refraining the elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from polls duties and dropping the decision to deploy members of the armed forces.

Yesterday, the law enforcers equipped with water canons, prison vans and sophisticated weapons swooped more aggressively on the leaders and activists of the Awami League-led mega-combine whenever they tried to bring out processions or stage demonstrations in the capital city in favor of their action program. Para-military BDR and the members of the armed forces patrolled various strategic points in the capital.

In the capital, a series of clashes between the pro-blockade people and law enforcers occurred at Chawk Bazar, Nazirabazar, Malibagh, Mirpur, Russell Square-Panthapath and Bangabandhu Avenue areas that left at least 150 people including 10 policemen injured, four of them suffered bullet wounds.

A large number of the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Rajarbagh Police Line Hospital and other hospitals and clinics with serious wounds, many of them with head injuries they sustained during aggressive police action.

Police first chased the pro-blockade demonstrators, indiscriminately charged baton, lobbed tear gas canisters and fired rubber bullets on them in these spots while the fleeing pickets pelted stones at the law enforcers taking shelter in lanes and by-lanes.

A vast area in the old part of the city stretching from Nazirabazar under Kotwali police station to Swarighat under Lalbagh police station witnessed fierce pitched battles between stone-throwing pickets and police since noon that left at least 50 injured.

The clashes that continued for over three hours in the Lalbagh area erupted at about 11-45am when a procession of Dhaka City Awami League led by its joint secretary Haji Mohammad Selim reached near Chawk Bazar crossing from Debidas Ghat area and was intercepted by the law enforcers. Soon the clashes flared up in the nearby areas like Kazi Alauddin Road, Naya Bazar, Rahmatganj, Water Works Road, Swarighat and their adjoining lanes and by-lanes. Police indiscriminately charged baton on the marchers, fired at least 200 rounds of rubber bullets and lobbed 150 tear gas canisters while pickets retaliated the police action by throwing brick-chips.

Earlier at about 11 in the morning, a procession of Awami League-led mega-combine reached near Babu Bazar Bridge from Keraniganj and police charged baton indiscriminately to disperse the marchers and then lobbed tear gas shells and fired rubber bullets leaving at least 30 injured. The marchers taking shelter on nearby roads showered stones on the police and soon the clashes flared up in nearby areas of the old Dhaka.

Almost at the same time, police also swooped on a procession of Dhaka City Awami League led by its organising secretary Syed Khokon near Nazirabazar-Naya Bazar area on Syed Nazrul Islam Sarani in the morning and dispersed the marchers by using baton and lobbing tear gas canisters. The clashes between police spread to nearby Kazi Alauddin Road and continued for about one hour leaving at least 20 injured.

In Malibagh area, clashes between police and pickets took place at about 12 noon that left at least 25 injured. Three policemen suffered rubber bullet wounds in the clashes.

The trouble erupted when police prevented a march of the mega-combine near Malibagh intersection. Police chased the pickets first and then charged batons, lobbed 100 tear gas shells and fired bullets on the demonstrators that left at least 30 including three policemen injured.

Police also swooped on the Jubo Sangram Parishad leaders and activists near Noor Hossain Square in the morning when the latter tried to stop the law enforcers from putting barbed wire fences there. Police chased the activists, charged baton thrice and lobbed several rounds of tear gas shells on the demonstrators leaving at least 25 injured. Seven of them including Dhaka City Ward-56 Awami League general secretary Rezaul Karim Reza suffered head injuries.

Later, Awami League presidium member Matia Chowdhury along with Dhaka City Awami League general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (Bir Bikram), who had been leading a march there at the time of the incident, alleged that at least 100 activists of the mega-combine suffered injuries as the aggressive policemen barged into their Bangabandhu Avenue office and some makeshift food stalls nearby.

At Mirpur Section-3, police charged baton on the pro-blockade pickets in the morning in their bid to prevent the mega-combine from bringing out a procession in the locality. Police also lobbed several tear gas shells while the pickets hurled stones and damaged a number of vehicles. The incident left at least 15 injured. Eight activists were picked up.

In Russell Square-Panthapath area, at least five pickets including three Jubo Mahila League activists suffered injuries when police intercepted a procession and drove away the marchers by using lathis.

In retaliation, the marchers pelted stones from lanes and by-lanes when mega-combine leaders Mohammad Nasim, Md Nurul Islam, Prof Abu Sayeed, ABM Ruhul Amin Howladar, Abdur Razzak, Shahjahan Khan and Asim Kumer Ukil were encircled by police at the Square.

Since early in the morning, hundreds of demonstrators in sporadic small processions assembled in the central parts of the capital including Bangabandhu Avenue, Muktangon, Syed Nazrul Islam Sarani in front of Ramna Bhaban and Peer Yameni Market and Golap Shah Mazar crossing from different city wards chanting anti-government slogans. Police put up barbed wire fences in these spots early in the morning.

Speaking at a rally at Bangabandhu Avenue at noon, Awami League presidium member Tofail Ahmed alleged that Prof Iajuddin Ahmed was trying deliberately to arrange farcical polls without a voter list on January 22 after damaging the neutral caretaker government concept to grease the palms of his mentor Khaleda Zia which the democracy-loving people would resist at any cost.

Later, leaders of the mega-combine including Tofail Ahmed, Matia Chowdhury, Abdul Mannan, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (Bir Bikram), Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Huq Inu, Syed Zafar Sajjad, Shirin Akhter, Dilip Barua, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mirza Azam, Pankaj Debnath and other leaders addressed the rally.

At least 25 pickets were injured when police went into action against them at Savar Bazar when the latter tried to prevent movement of road transports on Dhaka-Aricha Highway from a procession. Earlier, the pickets torched a bus near the entrance of Jahangirnagar University while at least eight vehicles were damaged by pickets at Gazipur.

Chandpur: At least 10 activists of Awami League and BNP suffered injuries in a clash between the two rival political parties in the town.

Sources in Bangladesh Railway said the mega-combine pickets halted some 22 trains at Parbatipur railway station and a few trains at Brahmanbaria station badly disrupting railway communication in western and eastern zones of the Bangladesh Railway.

Operation at land ports at Hili in Joypurhat, Benapole in Jessore and Akhaura in Brahmanbaria districts came to a halt for the second consecutive day yesterday due to the blockade.

Most of the shops, shopping complexes, private business houses and educational institutions remained closed while buses did not operate from the city's four inter-district bus terminals heightening the people's sufferings, particularly of those returning to the capital after enjoying their Eid holidays in their ancestral homes. But some BRTC double-decker buses and mini-buses and CNG-run auto-rickshaws and a large number of rickshaws plied the city streets virtually turning the capital city into a city of pedalled rickshaws.

Khulna: Some workers and activists of Awami League and its allies were injured last morning when police and BDR men chased and charged baton on the pickets on the rail lines behind the Shilpa Bank building of Khulna city. Injured men were given first aid at private clinics.

The workers and activists of AL-led mega alliance staged sit-in demonstrations at nine points in the metropolitan area, disrupting vehicular traffic. Both inter-district and local buses were off the streets in Khulna. Trucks, minibuses, baby taxis and cars did not ply yesterday.

The Khulna divisional headquarters remained cut off from the rest of the country for the second consecutive day yesterday because of the blockade program.

Barisal: The blockade program of the grand alliance has continued for the second day on Monday.

Keraniganj: Over 300 people were injured in clashes between police-BDR forces and the grand-alliance activists in Keraniganj-Old Dhaka area. The law-enforcers fired teargas shells and rubber bullets as pickets pelted them with brickbats, turning the areas into veritable battlefields.

In Keraniganj, 70 people were injured in a clash between the activists and police and BDR patrols at Kadamtali crossing in south Keraniganj thana in the morning.

Witnesses said police-BDR personnel charged baton on the grand-alliance activists at about 11 am when they were staging demonstrations peacefully sitting on the highway on the south side of the 2nd Buriganga Bridge as part of their blockade program.

"At one stage of the clubbing, the agitated demonstrators started pelting the law- enforcers with brickbats," says a spot account of the encounter.

Police later fired tear-shells and rubber bullets to fight back the activists, triggering a clash that left at least 70 injured, including the two policemen. Among the injured, 25 were admitted to local Sajeda Clinic.

Savar: 15 people were injured in police attack in the Pourasava area in the morning.

Khulna: 10 mega-alliance activists were injured in police action. Police arrested three persons.

A total of 108 people have been arrested from the district since Sunday night till last morning to maintain law and order.

At least 10 activists of the grand alliance were injured in police baton charge in Bogra as they put barricades on Bogra-Gabtoli road in Gabtoli upazila, halting traffic for an hour.

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