four dead, 30 injured in a battle to the death in Raipura

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

• FOUR people were killed and 50 others injured in two separate clashes between two factions of locals in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi on Friday last. Of the dead Tofayel Rana -- an SSC examinee from Bashgari High School -- and three others Morom, Sohrab and Swapan were killed in gun attacks. 

At first, two groups of villagers under Bashgari Union led by former Union Chairman Shahed Sarkar and the incumbent chairman Sirajul Haque attacked each other with sharp weapons and firearms. The two groups had also clashed on the previous day. They started to fight again Friday. Tofayel received bullet injury in the head when he went out to respond nature's call and died on way to the hospital. In another incident, two factions of the people in Nilakhya Union -- one headed by the union's former chairman Abdul Haque Sarkar and another led by incumbent chairman Tajul Islam - attacked each other in the noon. Three people were killed during this clash. 
Fatal clashes in Narshingdi villages are nothing new. But at present, a vested quarter has been portraying the incidents in a different way. Whereas OC of local Police Station said that, the reason behind the clashes was to establish supremacy in the area. Two groups have been fighting since years to maintain domination in the locality resulting in death of several persons, including a Upazila Chairman. 
What is shocking is that, Tofayel's father Abdullah Fakir came to Narsingdi town years before leaving behind his ancestral home and other assets to avoid the unceasing feud. But destiny had compelled his son Tofayel to go there for collecting relevant papers from school for SSC examination. We do express our grief for untimely death of Tofayel and three other people.
But there is a question, why local administration and police did not take any precautionary measures to stop such clashes when there was a clash in the previous day too. If proper steps could have been taken earlier, it might be possible to check the unprecedented violence. Police should be more vigilant and prompt to counter such violence ahead of general election.