Superintendent of Police Belal Hussain denied having beaten the BNP leaders with sticks.
In Natore, BNP leaders alleged that their Awami League counterparts seized their platform. Natore BNP’s acting convenor Shahidul Islam Bachchu said party members set up a stage at Chhatni area of Sadar Upazila around 10.30 am before BNP workers reached the venue.
Dulal Sarkar, president of the Chhatni unit of the Awami League, denied the allegations.
Shahidul also said that Awami League leaders and members attacked his party colleagues in Madhanagar railway station area of Naldanga upazila around 10 am. He claimed that Shakhawat Hussain, former chairman of the Upazila Parishad, and several others were injured in the attack.
Shahidul said, “At least 12 of our men were injured across the district.” He said he was attacked in Naldanga and Singra upazilas.
Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, chief of the Naldanga police station, said: “An argument broke out between the two sides and the police went there to bring the situation back to normal.”
Clashes broke out between police and BNP members in Narayanganj on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway around 1.15 pm.
Lutfur Rahman Abdu, former joint convenor of BNP’s Narayanganj district unit, said that as soon as the protesters reached the highway in Panchrukhi area, uniformed policemen armed with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets launched a massive attack.