Police disrupted a gathering of Jatiya Party (JaPa) supporters and activists in front of its Kakrail central office in the capital on Saturday afternoon, even resorting to spraying water from water cannons and hurling sound grenades.
The police action took place around 3:40pm, creating panic among pedestrians and local residents in the area, besides dispersing the targeted crowd. However, no casualties were reported.
Witnesses said the situation escalated quickly when leaders and activists of the Jatiya Party were trying to hold the rally, defying the police’s obstacles. At one stage, police sprayed water from a water cannon and threw several sound grenades to disperse the Jatiya Party leaders and activists. Many nearby people were seen running for cover amid the chaos.
Jatiya Party leaders alleged that despite repeated requests, police did not allow them to hold the pre-scheduled program.
“Though we were peacefully holding our gathering, but police suddenly intervened and used force to break it up,” said one Jatiya Party activist at the scene.
Contacted over the phone, Deputy Commissioner (Ramna Division) of the DMP Masud Alam said that there was no permission for a Jatiya Party workers’ gathering.
Besides, they were holding the rally, completely disrupting vehicular movement on the road, he said.
Replying to a question, Deputy Commissioner Masud Alam insisted that police had to take action to prevent any untoward incident.
Following the clash, law enforcers were seen patrolling the area to maintain order.
