Miscreants hack Barishal Jubo League leader, cut tendons of legs

Unidentified miscreants attacked a leader of Jubo League, the youth wing of Awami League, in Barishal city last night (9 January) and cut the tendons of his legs while haphazardly hacking him with sharp weapons.

Shahriar Sachib Rajib, the general secretary of the Jubo League's Ward 21 unit in the city, came under attack in the city's Gorasthan Road area at around 10pm, according to witnesses and police.

Shahriar, a known follower of former state minister for water resources Zahid Faruk Shamim, was rescued and admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital after the attack.

Eyewitnesses said Shahriar was returning home when two youths armed with sharp weapons suddenly attacked him from behind. They hacked at him indiscriminately and at one point severed the tendons of both of his legs.

The CCTV camera footage of the attack, which police have confirmed as well, soon went viral on social media.

"Shahriar sustained injuries on both of his legs, hands and chest. His condition is critical," said Kotwali Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Mizanur Rahman.

He said it was not yet known who and why carried out the attack but efforts were underway to arrest the two people seen in the CCTV footage.

Shahriar's sister Shahina Azmin told reporters that her brother had a dispute with a local named Bachchu over some issues. She claimed that one of the two attackers who hacked her brother was Bachchu.

"My brother is in critical condition. We are preparing to take him to Dhaka for better treatment," she said last night.

Leaders and activists of Awami League and all of its wings, including Jubo League, have been on the run and facing attacks from their rivals, and sometimes even general people, across the country since a mass uprising toppled the AL government in August last year after it ruled the country for 15 years.