Three members, including two women, of a family suffered burn injuries when criminals threw acid on them in Gopalpur village of Kushtia Sadar upazila on Saturday night.

They are Saleha Khatun, 45, Sonia Khatun, 20, and Titumir Hossain, 13. Saleha is a sister of Ayub Ali and Sonia and Titumir are his children.

Police said there had been a longstanding conflict between two Awami League leaders - Swapan Biswas and Golam Mostafa - over establishing supremacy in the area. Ayub is a follower of Swapan.

On Thursday, Ayub had an altercation with Mostafa over derogatory remarks about Swapan at Jhoudia Bazar, and they warned each other of dire consequences.

Mir Shariful Haque Janak, officer-in-charge of Islamic University Police Station, said four criminals came to the house of Ayub around 10:30pm and threw a bottle of acid through the window of his house where his sister Saleha, daughter Sonia and son Titumir were asleep.

Sonia sustained severe burn injuries on the left side of her face and in her left hand while Titumir in his left hand. Saleha got minor injuries in the right leg.

They were rushed to Kushtia Medical College Hospital. Sonia was later shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and Titumir to Dhaka Medical College Hospital as their condition worsened.

A tense situation was prevailing following the acid attack. Yesterday morning, activists of the two groups attacked one another, injuring around 20 people.

Police charged batons on them to bring the situation under control. Additional police have been deployed there to fend off further trouble.

Abu Bakar Siddique, Kushtia additional superintendent of police, said police were trying to arrest the criminals involved in the incident.

Officer-in-charge of Islamic University Police Station Shariful Haque said they nabbed one Nayeb Ali, belonging to Mostafa group, for his alleged involvement in the acid attack.