The young man while escaping from the violence was run over by a bus and died on the spot.

JP President HM Ershad along with his men went to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) morgue and identified the person as Kabir Hossain of ward No 27 under Demra thana. The JP men also claimed him as a JP activist.

But police said he was a passer-by and did not belong to any of the two political parties.

Several members of the CPB central committee, including CPB President Manzurul Ahsan Khan, and a number of JP central committee members, including a female member, received minor injuries during the incident.

The JP activists damaged at least a dozen vehicles and set fire to several book stalls. They also ransacked a mobile phone shop and a rickshaw around Paltan Crossing and Bijoy Nagar during the sporadic bursts of violence between 4:30pm and 5:30pm, CPB sources alleged.

The violence was triggered when a JP procession celebrating the party's 20th anniversary tried to march towards the Baitul Mukarram and came face-to-face with a CPB rally in front of the CPB office. An argument ensued between the two groups.

Witnesses claimed that the JP activists started to hurl chairs and strike the CPB activists with sticks. The latter also hurled chairs and brickbats at the JP activists.

However, the CPB with its around 200 activists was largely outnumbered by some 7,000 activists-strong JP procession. The injured CPB activists were confined within their office as the JP activists caused havoc and set fire to several book-shops on the footpath in front of the CPB office.

When CPB President Manzurul Ahsan Khan approached the JP leaders to clear up the misunderstanding, its workers pounced on him with sticks.

Manzur said, "The JP activists blocked the way for the ambulances to come to our office. The ambulances finally reached us under police escort."

JP leader Meher Negar told The Daily Star that the CPB activists dragged a number of female JP activists, including herself, into their office and tortured them for half an hour.

CPB Dhaka committee member Sajedul Haq Rubel, who was also injured during the violence, said, "We were attacked by the JP activists because our rally was marking the World Anti-Imperialism Day."

Five CPB activists and three JP activists were later taken to DMCH for treatment.

Both the parties claimed that at least 50 activists each were injured in the incident.

The police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were present during the violence and sporadically charged baton on the rioters. The two parties in separate statements, however, condemned the police inaction.

The CPB announced countrywide protest today and tomorrow.

Leaders of both the parties last night went to Paltan Police Station to file cases against each other. The process of filing cases was going on when this report was filed.