AL leader opens fire amid altercation with BCL men in Shahbagh
A local Awami League leader fired blank shots at one stage of altercation with several Chhatra League leaders at Shahbagh in the capital on Sunday night.
The police have seized the arms from the Awami League leader after hearing the statements from two sides.
No case has been filed in connection with the incident till Thursday evening.
The police and the witnesses said an incident of firing took place in front of a restaurant named Rosnabilash adjacent to the outdoor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) at around 10:30pm on Sunday.
Syed Mosharraf Hossain, who is the former organising secretary of Shahbagh thana Awami League, is the accused in this incident. He is currently active in the politics of Dhaka city south unit Awami League.
During firing the blank shots, there were several leaders and activists including Shahbagh thana Chhatra League former joint convener Zakir Hossain Kotowal.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, one of them said Roshnabilash restaurant's owner Liton mercilessly beat up an employee on charges of stealing money on 17 November.
When another employee Md Ifthi tried to protect him, he (Ifthi) was also beaten up. Later they were terminated.
Ifthi's village home is in Brahmanbaria and he is known to a former vice-president of Chhatra League. As Ifthi informed that leader about the matter, he along with former BCL leader Zakir Hossain went to the Roshnabilash restaurant on Monday night.
According to the statement of a former BCL leader involved in the incident, he along with some local BCL and Jubo League leaders went to the Roshnabilash restaurant and found Liton at around 10:30pm on Monday.
They were discussing beating the employees and their termination.
Saying that Mosharraf Hossain appeared at the time, the BCL leader said, "He appeared and asked why are you here? What do you do here?" I said, "Brother, we are discussing."
At one stage of talking, he brought out a pistol and fired two rounds of blank shots, the BCL leader said adding when people surrounded him, he fired another shot. After receiving the news, the police reached there. The police heard from the both the parties in presence of local councilor (Dhaka south Ward No 21) Asaduzzaman at Shahbagh police station.
Asaduzzaman claimed that the matter had been 'solved' through discussion at the police station. He said, "The police informed me as the incident took place in my area. Later I went to the police station and heard the incident. Mosharraf Hossain regretted the incident. He said he opened fire for self defence after being attacked. As the arms cannot be brandished in this way after the announcement of the election schedule, the police seized the arms."
However, Mosharraf Hossain denied that he fired blank shots.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, "Two employees locked into a clash over stealing money from the shop. Some students took the side of an employee and beat up another employee of the restaurant. Later, Shahbagh thana police solved the matter. There was no incident of opening fire."
The Awami League leader said, "We do politics and we have enemies for doing politics. Can we say who does what? I have legal arms. However, I didn't open fire."
He also advised to talk to the police officers of Shahbagh police station including the officer-in-charge.
When contacted, Shahbagh police station officer-in-charge Nur Mohammad said Mosharraf had licensed arms. Amid the chaos between two groups, he opened fire. Probably he fired two shots. None filed any complaint with the police station. The two groups solved the matter themselves. Mosharraf's pistol is under police custody.