Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Two activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, were killed as law enforcers after being attacked by them opened fire at Kaliganj upazila of Satkhira during the countrywide daylong general strike on Tuesday.
Nine policemen and three Jamaat-Shibir activists also sustained injuries during the clash that continued for nearly 20 minutes from around 6:00am, the Daily Star, a local newspaper, reported.
Gonojagoron Mancha and Jamaat have separately called the shutdown for Tuesday, protesting the verdict in the war crimes case against former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam.
Jamaat kingpin Azam was handed down 90-year jail for his war time offences committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.
The reasons of Gonojagoron Mancha and Jamaat for the protest, however, are entirely different.
Gonojagoron Mancha, which has been campaigning for capital punishment to all war criminals, considers 90 years in prison an inadequate sentence for Ghulam.
Jamaat, on the other hand, believes the ongoing war crimes trial is a conspiracy of the Awami League government to weaken the opposition. It demands that the former Jamaat chief be released.
The Jamaat and Shibir men ambushed the law enforcers putting some logs and electric poles on Kaliganj-Shyamnagar road in Pawkhali area of the upazila, said Tajul Islam, assistant superintendent of police of Kaliganj circle, according to the report.
On information that the party men blocked the road, a team of 35 to 40 policemen led by Islam rushed to the scene around 6:00am to remove the blockade.
As soon as the law enforcer started to remove the barricades, the Jamaat-Shibir suddenly swooped on them with sticks, said Islam.
At one stage, the Jamaat-Shibir men also opened fire on them, forcing the law enforcers to retaliate with fire, he added.
BBN/SSR/AD-16July13-11:19 am (BST)
