Faridpur AL Feud: Sajeda Chy's motorcade attacked

The motorcade of Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, deputy leader of parliament, came under attack allegedly by supporters of an Awami League leader on Dhaka-Khulna highway in Faridpur's Nagarkanda upazila yesterday.

Sajeda, also an AL presidium member, however, was unhurt in the attack that happened around 2:30pm, police say.

The attackers attacked the motorcade with brickbats and homemade weapons, breaking the glass of the MP's car and two other cars carrying senior police officials. But all the passengers were unharmed, ASM Nasim, officer-in-charge of Nagarkanda Police Station, told The Daily Star.

Four policemen, including the OC, were injured while trying to bring the situation under control.

Police fired a couple of rubber bullets to bring back normalcy in the area, said Nasim.

He added that the attackers were the supporters of Jamal Hossain Mia, joint secretary general of Nagarkanda upazila unit AL, who is an MP hopeful from Faridpur-2 (Saltha-Nagarkanda). Sajeda is the incumbent lawmaker in the parliamentary seat.

“We have picked up three people from the spot for interrogation,” the police official said. 

Local AL sources said Sajeda was on the way to her village home in Saltha on a two-day visit. To welcome the deputy leader of the House, her supporters took position near the Nagarkanda intersection. Some of them reportedly damaged Jamal's posters and vandalised an archway set up in support of Jamal.

Hearing the news, followers of Jamal took position in front of a filling station near Talma intersection in Nagarkanda and hurled brickbats at Sajeda's motorcade.

Contacted, Jamal told this correspondent that locals gathered in the area and staged a protest as Sajeda's supporters vandalised his archway.

Later, Deputy Commissioner of Faridpur Umay Salma Tanjia and Superintendent of Police of the district Subhash Chandra Saha visited Sajeda at her home.