At least 20 people were injured in a clash between supporters of two political groups in Magura's Sreepur upazila.
Several houses were vandalized when supporters of Abdul Halim Molla, the current chairman of the Upazila's Goeshpur Union Parishad, and defeated chairman candidate Yusuf Mandal clashed, said Sreepur Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge Tasmin Alam.
To bring the situation under control, the police have detained four people from the scene, he said.
According to police and local residents, there has been a prolonged conflict between Abdul Halim Molla's group and Yusuf Mandal's group over leadership expansion and the central conflict of the Upazila Parishad elections.
On Friday morning, violence escalated as supporters of Harun from Halim Chairman's group clashed with Riffat, son of Alamgir, and attacked Harun's house. Later, when Hannan from Yusuf's group led a mob to vandalize houses belonging to supporters of Halim Chairman's group, they retaliated.
During the clash between the two groups, at least 20 villagers, including Jahid, Ershad, Janu, Abed Ali, Nasir, Jillu, Mahabul, Anwar, Onik, Thandu, Rokonuzzaman, Ashraf, Jahangir, Delwar Mondal, and Siraj, were seriously injured.
The injured were admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital and the Upazila Health Complex.
Upon receiving the news, the police reached the scene to control the situation and detained Sohag Mondal (25), Atar Ali (62), Momin (60), and Abed Ali (65) from the scene.
Due to tension in the area and the possibility of further vandalism and looting, additional police reinforcements have been deployed.
