Police yesterday arrested 21 alleged Jamaat-Shibir men over an attack on an Awami League lawmaker at a programme of Islamic sermons and a subsequent clash in Chittagong’s Lohagara upazila on Friday night that left 21, including six law enforcers, injured and three cop vehicles vandalised.

The injured were admitted to Lohagara Upazila Health Complex. Four of the five persons, including Sub-inspector Jasim Uddin, who were later shifted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital have fled.

The arrestees include the 11 now undergoing treatment at the health complex and those apprehended on the spot and in overnight drives in the area, said Lohagara Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Shahjahan.

A case was filed around 11:00am accusing 150 Jamaat-Shibir activists by name and 2,500-3,000 others unnamed.

Eyewitnesses and police said Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir activists raised an outcry when Chittagong-15 constituency (Satkania-Lohagara) lawmaker Abu RezaMohammad Nezamuddin Nadvi went up to the dais as a guest around 8:00pm.

The locals of Shah Manzil area organise the yearly programme, Siratunnabi Mahfil, this year lasting 19 days, at Sirat Maidan in Chunati union.

The activists asked Reza to leave and at one point some of them started hurling shoes and brickbats while others tried to attack with sticks. Police escorted Reza to a nearby mosque, which the activists encircled, they said.

Police initially fired blanks to disperse the agitators and started firing rubber bullets when showered with brickbats hurled by the Jamaat-Shibir activists, added the witnesses and police.

The clash ended around 12:15am and additional police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh arrived to escort Reza out to safety, said the OC.