Torchlight clash, MP and 50 injured
A clash broke out between two parties over a land dispute in Chhatke, Sunamganj. At least 50 people, including the MP from Sunamganj-1 constituency, were injured in the clash. The clash took place on Friday (May 8) night at Jawabazar on the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway. The clash lasted for about two and a half hours. During this, people from the two villages took part in the clash by lighting torches in the darkness of the night with country-made weapons. More than a hundred vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway.
According to police and local sources, Mohammad Ali, a resident of Konapara in the area, had bought some land from Afroz Mia, the former Union Parishad (UP) chairman of Khidrakhapan village adjacent to Jawabazar, about a year ago. Despite long-standing insistence, the land registry was not completed. Mohammad Ali had abused Afroz Mia two days ago regarding this. Later, there was a scuffle and fight between Afroz Mia’s people and Mohammad Ali’s people in Jawa Bazar over this issue. Due to this, a chase and counter-chase started between the two sides on Thursday afternoon. After yesterday evening, the two sides united again and got involved in a fierce clash in the Jawa Bazar area. At least fifty supporters of both sides were injured in the clash that lasted for about two and a half hours.
During the clash, Sunamganj-1 MP Kamruzzaman Kamrul got stuck in a traffic jam while passing through the Jawa Bazar area. Seeing the situation getting worse, he moved towards the spot to stop the two sides. But before reaching the spot, he was injured by bricks and broken bricks thrown by the two sides. Later, he was taken to the nearby Kaitak Hospital for primary treatment.
Later, with the intervention of the MP and the efforts of the joint forces, the law enforcement agencies brought the situation under control after two and a half hours. Jawa police outpost in-charge Abdul Kabir said that initially it is believed that the clash started over the failure to register land purchased a year ago. He said that many people from both sides were injured in the prolonged clash.
