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Shootout at roads office

Two groups of League men fight to control tender business

Staff Correspondent
At least five people were bullet-hit and one was stabbed when a group loyal to the ruling Awami League attacked another in a turf war at Sarak Bhaban in the city yesterday.
Of those with gunshot wounds, Shamim Shahriar, 45, Masiur Rahman Rajesh, 35, Ripon, 32, and Towhidul Islam, 35, are involved with Swechhasebak League and listed as contractors with the Roads and Highways Department
(RHD). The other bullet-hit, Zakir Hossain, 40, is a driver of the RHD, said sources.
The one who was stabbed is Kazi Masum, 32, a contractor.
Sources said the attack resulted from rivalry between Shamim
Shahriar, publication secretary of Swechhasebak League central committee, and Kamal Uddin Khandaker, an office assistant of RHD and general secretary of pro-AL Sramik Karmachari Union.
Shamim has former Chhatra League leader Farid Ahmed Sentu as his closest associate.
Eyewitnesses said around 15 people riding six to seven motorbikes and a private car stormed Sarak Bhaban and made the attack around 4:00pm.
A three-member committee led by Md Ali, additional chief engineer of RHD, has been formed to investigate the shooting at Sarak Bhaban, the head office of RHD, and submit a report in three days.
Habibur Rahman Litu, a contractor, said, “Kamal was against open bidding as he gets commission from tender manipulation. We support open bidding."
Chowdhury Ruhul Amin, deputy director (security) of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, said, "Around 3:50pm, a contractor named Tutul told me over the phone that a group of hired guns was coming from Tejgaon. And within 10 minutes the shooting started as I was calling the police.”
The gang fired around SO-35 rounds and left the scene by the time the cops came, he added.
A contractor named Golam Azam alias Mamun of Shamim group filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station around midnight, accusing
Kamal, Bazlur Rahman, Rafiq, Abul Kalam and 18-20 unnamed people.
Nobody, however, was arrested in this connection as of filing this report at about 2:00am today, said Shahbagh police.
Shamim was shot in the right leg, Rajesh in the waist, Ripon in the right hand, Towhid in the head and Zakir in the right leg.
The injured were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and doctors said all of them were out of danger.
Towhidul Islam, one of the injured, told The Daily Star that they were at the office room of RHD contractors' association when they came under attack.
"Seeing the gang brandishing firearms, we tried to flee. But they opened fire, mainly targeting Shamim Bhai. A bullet hit my head while I was trying to save Shamim Bhai."
Towhidul said the attackers stayed there for around 10 minutes.
RHD sources said Shamim and Sentu, who were known as Chhatra League cadres at Dhaka University, had been holding sway at Sarak Bhaban for the last few years.
But their dominance weakened after a part of the RHD office was shifted to
Elenbari of Tejgaon, where Kamal and his group are stronger.
An RHD employee, preferring not to be named, said the Shamim-Sentu group currently controls the tender business at Sarak Bhaban.
They are against a High Court decision to relocate the Sarak Bhaban to Tejgaon, as they fear they would lose the dominance in that case. But Kamal supports the verdict as he has influence in Tejgaon area.
“The groups fought several times before. On June 3, a case was filed against Kamal and his cohorts for attacking supporters of Shamim Shahriar," said the RHD employee.
Yesterday's incident could have been averted had the police arrested Kamal after filing of the case, he added.
Nurul Islam, deputy commissioner of police (Ramna division), said they were informed that the shooting resulted from rivalry between Shamim-Sentu and Kamal groups.
Talking about the case against Kamal, he said, “We were not able to detain Kamal as we don't know his address.”
Asked about the incident, Shamim declined to say anything. Kamal could not be reached for comments.