| Ruling party cadres out to grab business, demand toll Jubo League cadres clashed with rivals for possession of a fish trading centre in Barisal yesterday while Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men snatched tenders from contractors in Manikganj the day before. In another incident in Jessore yesterday, ruling party cadres assaulted opposition BNP men allegedly for refusing to pay illegal toll. In Moulvibazar, a case was filed against 20 people yesterday on charge of snatching tender documents. Our Barisal correspondent reports: At least 10 people were injured as two rival groups of Jubo League cadres clashed for control of a fish trading centre in Hizla upazila yesterday.One faction was led by Tawhid Ahmed Shikdar, president of Harinathpur union Jubo League, and the other by Tarek Hossain, its joint secretary. Police and witnesses said they clashed with lethal weapons at Nacchkathi fish trading centre in the afternoon.The injured include activists, fishermen and fish merchants. A shop was ransacked and looted during the incident. Tawhid claimed that the fish trading centre was legally run by him for long while his opponent Tarek tried to capture it yesterday by attacking and looting. Tarek, however, refuted the allegation and said the centre belonged to the local fish traders. In Manikganj, leaders and activists of BCL snatched tender papers at the local LGED office when the contractors were going to drop them on Tuesday. Failing to drop the tender papers, Dayan Khan of Air Engineering Service, who had come from Dhaka to drop the tender papers, filed an FIR with Manikganj Sadar Police Station, reports our correspondent. According to FIR, BCL activist Anjan and others took Dayan and project manager of their farm to a corner room and confined them in it. Later they snatched the tender documents and gave them death threat if they try to drop the tender or seek police help. The contractors also submitted written allegations to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) authorities in this regard.The executive engineer of LGED was not available for his comment. BCL men recently abducted a contractor from the Manikganj municipal office when he went there to drop tender papers. They also beat him up mercilessly. A correspondent in Jessore reports: Farazi Motiar Rahman, Abhyanagar unit convener of BNP, Rafiqul Islam, general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal unit, and three others were injured in attacks allegedly by cadres of the ruling Awami League (AL) at Nawapara industrial town yesterday for what they claimed refusing to pay illegal toll. Locals said a number of ruling party cadres attacked Rafiq with iron rods near Nawapara High School at around 12:30pm. When Farazi noticed the matter and came to his rescue the terrors also beat him up. The attackers left the spot after injuring Sramik Dal's Rafiqul Islam critically. They also beat up BNP activists Babu, Tuhin and Sumon. Rafiq said the AL men attacked him as he refused to pay the toll demanded by them on Tuesday. Our Moulvibazar correspondent reports: The executive engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) yesterday filed a case against 20 'unknown criminals' for snatching tender documents. Executive Engineer Habibul Aziz told reporters that a gang of about 20 took away papers of a Tk 2-crore work when they were opening the tender box on Tuesday noon. Amulyo Kumar Chow-dhury, OC at Moulvibazar Sadar Police Station, said they are investigating the matter. |
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