A violent clash erupted between student activists of the Anti-Discrimination Movement and supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) over the collection of illegal fees at the leased Charsindur Market in Palash, Narsingdi.
The confrontation, which occurred on Tuesday night (10 September), left at least 20 individuals from both sides injured.
According to police and local residents, tensions had been brewing for several days between the student activists and BNP members over the control of the banana and livestock markets in Charsindur Union.
On the weekly market day, the students took a stand in the market. However, the situation escalated when over a hundred BNP supporters arrived in the evening, leading to a violent clash between the two groups.
The altercation resulted in injuries to 20 people, with several seriously wounded individuals being taken to Palash Upazila Health Complex for treatment.
One of the injured students, Shanto, reported that some BNP activists had been collecting illegal fees from the market. The Anti-Discrimination student activists intervened, halting the fee collection and opening the market for free access.
However, around 8pm on the day of the clash, over 100 BNP supporters, armed with sticks, attacked the students, injuring 15 of them.
Saiful Islam, General Secretary of the BNP's Palash unit, acknowledged hearing about the incident but claimed ignorance of the specific reasons, as he was not in the area at the time.
Palash Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Iktiar Uddin confirmed that the clash took place over the control of the weekly market.
Upon receiving the news, the police intervened and brought the situation under control.
It is worth noting that Charsindur Market had been leased for a year for approximately Tk12 lakh Mosharraf Hossain from Sultanpur village.
However, following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August, local BNP leaders, under the leadership of Charsindur Union BNP President Arju Bhuiyan, expelled the leaseholder and began collecting illegal fees from the market.
Upon learning of this, student activists chased the BNP members out and took control of the market, starting to collect the fees themselves.
This did not sit well with the BNP supporters, leading to the violent confrontation as they attempted to retake control of the market.
