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tried to fish in the pond while the other tried to resist them. There are varying reports which group went to fish in the pond.

Shamsul Alam said Siddique is the general secretary of ward-2 of Dhamainagar union unit BNP. He claimed that Asmat Ali and his men used to control fish farming in the pond before August 5, 2024. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the operations of the pond went to Siddique, but the Asmat group did not want to give up control.

When Siddique’s men went to catch fish yesterday, Asmat’s men attacked them and mercilessly beat them, which left two people dead, he said.

Some 10 to 15 people from both sides were injured in the clash. They were taken to the 250-bed Sirajganj General Hospital and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogura.

Two of them succumbed to their injuries at 250-bed Sirajganj General Hospital, said Additional SP Saiful. He added that the deceased were supporters of BNP leader Siddique.

Contacted, assistant director of the hospital, Dr Akikun Nahar, said two people were brought to the hospital in critical condition with several injury marks in their bodies. “We tried our best but they succumbed to their injuries,” she said.

Contacted, Raiganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Abdul Khaleq Patoary said the pond is leased out in the name of a woman.

The Daily Star tried to contact Asmat and some of his associates multiple times for comments but no one received the calls or responded to text messages.

No case was filed till the filing of the report at around 8:00pm, said Golam Kibria, officer-in-charge (OC) of Raiganj Police Station.