At least 18 people sought treatment following last night’s attack on the residence of former liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque in Gazipur.
“Of them, 16 were critically injured and have been referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital,” said Mohammad Abul Fazal, in-charge of the emergency department at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital, speaking to The Daily Star at 11:00am today.
Contacted, Ashraful Alam, deputy director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), 12 people have come to DMCH for treatment following since the morning.
Eight of them are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital while the rest left after receiving primary treatment, he said.
The injured individuals include Shubho Shahriar, 16, Kashem, 17, Naim, 21, Sourav, 22, Hasan, 22, Rouhan Ahmed, 22, Omar Hamza, 22, Sabbir Khan Milon, 22, and Yakib, 23, Yakub, 24, DMCH sources said.
Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury later visited the hospital to check on the injured.
Around 9:00pm yesterday, a group of people attacked the residence of former liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque in Gazipur. During this time there was an announcement from the local mosque that robbers had attacked the house. In response a section of the locals intervened and beat up some people at the house suspecting them to be robbers injuring at least 15 people.
According to Md Nasir, brother of one of the injured, a number of July uprising leaders and activists had been lured into the house and locked in a room.
He told Prothom Alo that they had been severely beaten and hacked with sharp weapons there.
A nearby resident, wishing anonymity, said, “There was a fight here last night. I don’t know who attacked whom.”
Three children were seen collecting broken glass at the scene in the morning. When approached, two quickly left, while one said, “The mosque loudspeaker announced last night that robbers had come.”
