OUR CORRESPONDENT, Mymensingh

Around 30 people were injured during a clash between two factions of Awami League in Mymensingh’s Nandail upazila yesterday. Ahead of the 12th National Election, the AL organised a training workshop for 420 members from Chhatra League, Jubo League, and Sechhasebok League at Nandail upazila parishad auditorium at 10:30am.

Kabir Bin Anwar, the co-chairman of AL’s election coordination committee, was slated to be the chief guest, but the event was canceled due to clashes.

Local sources reported that before the programme could commence, clashes erupted between supporters of incumbent lawmaker Anwarul Abedin Khan Tuhin and former MP and AL Nandail upazila unit president Abdus Salam.

On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control by firing five rounds of tear-gas shells, said Md Rasheduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Nandail Police Station. Additional police have been deployed in the area, he added..

Contacted, Tuhin said a group of people equipped with sticks and sharp weapons led by Aminul Islam Sahan, secretary of AL Nandail upazila unit, attacked his followers at the programme venue.

Sahan denied the accusations and said Salam and his supporters had not been invited to the programme. So they were waiting by the roadside near the venue to speak with the chief guest regarding the matter.

According to Sahan, the clash erupted when Tuhin’s supporters attacked them, and in response, some AL activists intervened to protect them.

Due to the clash, traffic movement on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway was disrupted for over two hours causing sufferings to hundreds of passengers.