Jamaat men clash with cops, several detained

Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami locked in a clash with policemen in Dhaka’s Malibagh and Paltan areas on Friday afternoon after the law enforcers barred the demonstrators from bringing out processions.

According to witnesses, the Jamaat activists brought out a procession from Abul Hotel after the Jumma prayers.

When the procession reached the Malibagh intersection, the law enforcers intercepted it, triggering a clash.

The law enforcers charged batons and fired several rounds of tear shells at the agitators who also threw brickbats at the police.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Deputy Commissioner (Ramna division) Shahen Shah Mahmud said a group of people under the banner of Jamaat brought out a procession and attacked police members, leaving several of them injured.

Several people have been detained over the incident, he added.

DMP Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) AKM Hafiz Akter said Jamaat had no permission to bring out any procession in Dhaka on Friday, and that was why necessary effective measures were taken.

Police and Jamaat sources said the party sought permission from the police to bring out a mass procession from the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque as part of the simultaneous movement of the opposition parties and alliances to unseat the current government. But the party was denied permission.

However, the party activists marched forward with a procession from the Baitul Mukarram area towards the Paltan intersection after the Jumma prayers when the law enforcers charged batons to disperse them.

Paltan police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Salahuddin Mia told The Business Post that a group of people brought out a procession in the Baitul Mukarram area where police tried to intercept them, while they threw brickbats at the law enforcers.

“The police charged batons to disperse the people and detained three of them,” he said, adding that their identities will be checked whether they are Jamaat activists or not.