20 injured as Bulu’s cadre sprays bullets

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Over 20 people, including traders and customers of South Jatrabari wholesale vegetable market, received bullet wounds when a cadre of fugitive former commerce adviser Barkat Ullah Bulu opened fire on a crowd yesterday morning.

The armed cadre fired from his licensed gun while the labourers of the market were demolishing the wall of a filling station, owned by Bulu’s wife, son and two others, for construction of a road.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel arrested the cadre, AKM Mozammel Huq, also a partner of High-tech CNG-Filling Station, along with his licensed gun, and one of the demolishers named Tutul.

Law enforcers have been deployed at Samrat Sabji Market to avert any further incident.

Of the bullet injured, eight were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) while the others to different clinics and hospitals.

Those admitted to DMCH are Arif Hossain, 48, Alamgir Bepari, 35, Nur Banu, 35, Benu Begum, 35, Ali Hossain, 23, Mohammad Selim, 50, Aman Ullah, 35, and Fazar Ali Bepari.

Mohamad Akash, a mineral water vendor who was present during the incident, said, “A person along with a woman came to the spot by a microbus and barred the labourers from demolishing the wall and fired two blank shots.”

He said as the labourers got dispersed and started running inside the market, the armed man fired targeting the crowd, injuring more than 20.

Injured Kabir Hossain, who is also a trader of the market, said, “Hearing gunshots, I came forward and saw a man firing indiscriminately.”

Kabir and five employees of his shop were injured in the attack. He also showed the journalists the bullet marks on his cashbox and wall.

Some other traders claimed that more than 30 people, including traders, customers, pedestrians, market employees and labourers, were injured in the armed attack.

Talking to reporters, many traders of the market alleged that Mozammel made the gun attack in presence of Rab and police personnel.

Nazimuddin, caretaker of the filling station, said, “Two persons came to the filling station at around 7:00am to talk to me. In the meantime, some 30 to 40 others started demolishing the generator room and wall of the filling station.”

“I informed one of the partners, Mozammel Huq, who, along with his wife Mili Chowdhury, came to the spot by a microbus within 20 minutes and fired blank shots,” he said.

Mozammel told Rab-10 that he fired blank shots from his licensed gun as the labourers swooped on him.

He said Barkat Ullah Bulu’s wife Samia Barkat, son Omar Sharif, RHD’s Deputy Assistant Engineer Abdul Matin’s wife Samia Motin and he himself took lease of the land from the Roads and Highways Department in 2004 to set up a filling station.

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