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a year ago

Panchagarh calm, law enforcers patrol streets after clashes

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The simmering tension in Panchagarh has cooled as law enforcers patrol the district after clashes and arson over the Ahmadiyya community’s Salna Jalsa religious gathering left two people dead.

Gripped by fear, the markets and shops in the town were shut on Friday but reopened on Saturday morning as people resumed their daily activities.

Although all business establishments were open, the stores belonging to the Ahmadiyya community remained decimated, with no goods on sale, according to bdnews24.com.

After Jummah prayers on Friday, hundreds gathered in small groups, sporadically clashed with police, and vandalised and torched shops during protests against the Ahmadiyya event.

The protesters also set fire to a traffic police office and the homes of Ahmadiyya followers while burning tyres on the streets.

Bystanders said the marchers vandalised several stores of the Ahmadiyya people in Panchagarh market, threw their goods into the street and proceeded to torch them all.

SM Sirajul Huda, superintendent of police in the northern district, said Ariful Rahman, 27, son of Farman Ali from the Masjid Para area, and Jahid Hasan, 23, from the Ahmadiyya community, died in the clashes. Jahid was attacked by the agitators when he went to join the event.

The Ahmadiyya people agreed to suspend the event for three days following requests from the administration later that night, Sirajul added.

Sadar Police Station chief Abdul Latif Mia said: “No cases have yet been filed and no one has been arrested over the incident. The situation has returned to normal now.”

Mahmud Ahmed Sumon, a spokesman for the organisers of Jalsa Salana, a religious gathering of the minority Muslim community, said: “We’ve yet to decide whether to lodge a case. We will release a statement during a press briefing at 3 pm.”

“We’ve always lived in fear and continue to do so after yesterday’s incident.”

Md Abdullah, general secretary of Khatme Nabuwat Preservation Council, said: “We’re observing the situation. We have not decided whether to file a case. We’ll let everyone know about our next move after discussing it following the funeral prayers for the dead.”

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