Rival factions clash at Ctg AL confce: 20 injured
Staff Correspondent, Ctg
At least 20 Awami League activists were injured in a clash between two rival factions of Chittagong south district unit at its triennial conference at the Engineers Institute auditorium here yesterday. The AL groups --- one loyal to president Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu and another loyal to Jafar Ahmad Chowdhury --- used chairs, bamboo and lathi during the half-an-hour clash in presence of central leaders Sajeda Chowdhury, Matia Chowdhury and Bir Bahadur MP. Witnesses said the incident occurred at around 11:30am, just an hour before the conference begin, when activists of Jafar group led by Lohagara upazila unit President Advocate Humayun Kabir Rasel stormed into the auditorium and started ransacking the chairs and tables prompting Babu group to respond with sticks and bamboo. At one stage Jafar group was driven out of the auditorium. The two groups again locked in clashes outside the auditorium. Police and senior party leaders intervened and brought the situation under control. Later, the conference began at around 12.30pm with Babu in the chair while activists of Jafar group were seen agitating outside the conference venue. The injured were admitted to different city clinics. Party sources said Babu and Jafar have a long-drawn rivalry for domination on the party folds in the district.
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