At least five people were hurt in a clash between two factions of the 鈥楤angladesh Secretariat Multipurpose Cooperative Society鈥� over the management of the secretariat canteen.
The scuffle broke out at the canteen at about 8:30pm between two groups, one led by Md Badiul Kabir and Nizam Uddin Ahmed and the other by Md Nurul Islam and Mujahidul Islam Selim, leading to a tense situation on the secretariat premises.
Employees from both groups said that conflict arose over establishing control over the canteen at the government鈥檚 central administrative hub after the fall of the Awami League regime in August last year.
All the five injured who have been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital are Nurul Islam, an administrative officer at the Ministry of Forests and Jute; Obaidul Islam Robi from the Ministry of Agriculture; Milon from the Ministry of Law; office assistant Mujahidul Islam Selim; and Hasnat.
Md Sohrab Hossain, an official from the Ministry of Public Works, who took the injured to hospital, said that the previous leadership of the cooperative had close ties with Awami League.
A new committee, formed on June 3 this year, was currently managing the canteen, he said, adding that after the canteen was reopened recently, members of the previous committee allegedly tried to obstruct its operation.
He alleged that on Tuesday night, several individuals, including Badiul Kabir Belal, Mizanur Rahman Sumon, Arif Hossain, and Nazrul Islam鈥攔eportedly aligned with the former committee鈥攁ttacked Nurul Islam, the current committee鈥檚 president and others, leaving the five men injured.
Following the clash, both employee-run canteens and other shops inside the secretariat remained closed on Wednesday.
Secretariat officials said that the cooperative society had long been operating two canteens and the open-market-sales outlet on the secretariat premises.
Police personnel have been deployed near the Padma Canteen behind Building 4 in the secretariat compound following the clash.
Shahbagh police officer-in-charge Md Khalid Mansur said, 鈥楢 clash broke out between two groups of employees on Tuesday night over control of canteen at the secretariat that left four to five people injured. We are currently investigating the incident.鈥�