At least 16 BNP activists and four journalists were injured in an attack allegedly by Awami League men in Savar municipality area Thursday during demonstrations against the latest case filed against Tarique Rahman. The injured BNP men include municipality mayor and president of the municipal unit of the BNP Alhaz M Rafatulllah, general secretary of Dhaka district Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal Rashedul Ahsan Rashed and general secretary of municipal JCD Asaduzzaman Titu.

The injured journalists are NTV staff reporter Zahidur Rahman, RTV correspondent Ziaur Rahman, Baishakhi TV correspondent Abdul Halim and Daily Destiny correspondent Shahed Jewel. Witnesses said Dhaka district JCD organised a rally to protest against the latest case filed against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's elder son Tarique Rahman, in front of the BNP office at Khasrubagh in the afternoon. The rally was as part of countrywide demonstrations earlier announced by the student organisation of the opposition party in protest against the case.

When a JCD procession led by Rashed was approaching the meeting venue at about 3:30pm, activists of the municipal Hawkers League, who brought out a procession to protest at the bomb attack on AL lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh, launched an attack on the procession with sticks and lethal weapons in the bus-stand area. 'Later, they attacked Rafatullah on the stage,' says a spot account of the incident. The ruling-party supporters also ransacked the stage and BNP office amid the rampage. Ten of the injured were admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital while the rest to local clinics.

-New Age