Blockaders clash with cops in Bogra, 16 held

Police arrested 16, including a pro-BNP union parishad chairman, following a clash between blockaders and policemen in the district’s Matidali area on Saturday.

The clash ensued when the blockaders threw cocktails at a police patrol car about 10:00am following a meeting of the demonstrators. The blockaders also set fire to a sugar-laden truck on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway. Policemen then lobbed five rounds of tear shells and fired blank 35-40 rounds of bullets to disperse the agitators.

Later, police conducted a drive in the nearby areas and arrested 16, including sadar upazila BNP vice president and Nishindara UP chairman Shahidul Islam.

Bogra district BNP chief Saiful Islam alleged that the police opened fire on the demonstrators for no apparent reason while they were returning from a meeting.

Assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Gaziur Rahman refuted the allegation, saying that the blockaders threw cocktails on the police, forcing the policemen to open fire.