Gunfire at wedding: 7 injured including, children and teenagers

At least seven people, including children and teenagers were injured by police gunfire while they (police) were allegedly chasing robbers at a wedding ceremony in Maheshkhali of Cox's Bazar.

A jouful wedding turned in to a sad event amid police firing.

The victims and their relatives have also alleged that a young man injured in the incident was detained from the scene, taken to a police camp, beaten, threatened, and intimidated to give a different account of the incident.

However, police claim that they did not fire any shots during the raid at the wedding. They say two innocent people were injured by bullets fired by the robbers.

The incident occurred around 9:30 pm on Friday in the Dargah Ghona area of North Nalbila in Kalarmarchhara Union of Maheshkhali Upazila. Among the injured, a young man named Minhaz Uddin (24) was admitted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital in critical condition.

The other injured are Abdur Rahim Kalo (16), son of the late Rashid Mia of Dargah Ghona area; Rahat (12), son of Nasir Uddin; Md. Wasif (8), son of Imam Hossain; Babu (18), son of Azgar; and Sadek (25), son of Kalu Mazi. Additionally, one more person was reported injured in the incident, but his identity could not be immediately ascertained.

Local people said that on Friday night, a team from the Kalarmarchhara Police Camp conducted an operation in the Dargah Ghona area of North Nalbila to nab some robbers. It iis when the wedding ceremony of local resident Bhutto's daughter was underway. Many people, including children and teenagers, were attending the event. When police arrived at the scene, people began running in panic.

Locals alleged that at that time, police fired three rounds of bullets and several people at the wedding were shot. Minhaz was shot multiple times in the leg. As he could not flee due to his critical injuries, police detained and took him away, according to his relatives.

Injured Minhaz Uddin alleged that while they were enjoying the wedding ceremony, they sensed the presence of police and ran in fear. At that time, several police members fired at them from behind. Six to seven people were injured. Others managed to flee, but he fell because he was shot multiple times in the leg.

Minhaz's brother Kafil Uddin alleged that his brother was taken to the Kalarmarchhara Police Camp, though he was wounded. There, SI Raju and several other police members beat him and snatched his mobile phone. He was threatened with being framed in a case with a weapon if he spoke against the police.

Kafil Uddin said, "Police shot my brother at the wedding and took him away. He was beaten at the Kalarmarchhara camp and later taken to Maheshkhali Police Station. Even though there was no case against him, police pressured him to give a video statement saying he was injured by robbers' bullets. He was also given a condition to file a case against the robbers. Otherwise, he was threatened with being framed with a weapon. To save my brother, he was forced to give the video statement."

His family members said that Minhaz was first taken to Maheshkhali Upazila Health Complex. Later, when he was handed over to his family for treatment and was admitted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.

Several guardians of the injured, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that their children and several others were injured by police gunfire at the wedding. Later, police called them and intimidated them to say that they were injured by robbers' firing. They were threatened with being framed in false cases if they spoke against the police. For this reason, they do not dare speaking publicly.

The victim families alleged that after the incident, attempts were made to divert the matter. There are also allegations of forcibly taking video statements from the injured and obtaining signatures on stamp papers from family members. They demanded a proper investigation into the incident and action against those responsible.

However, Maheshkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdus Soltan denied these allegations. He claimed that police conducted an operation at the wedding to catch a robber. At that time, the robbers fired at the police. Two innocent people were hit by bullets. Police did not fire any shots.

The OC also denied allegations of threatening the injured to obtain statements or forcibly taking signatures on stamp papers from their families.