The policemen came under attack while they were discharging duties at Moendia Bazar of Poromeshwardi union under the upazila around 11am.

The attack originated from an altercation with shopkeepers who were asked to close their shops for proper social distancing aimed at mitigating the outbreak. 

The injured policemen are : SI Shahadat Hossain, 36, ASI  Pijush Boiragi, 40, Constable Farhad, 38, and Jalal Uddin,52, of Boalmari police station. They were given primary treatment at Boalmari Upazila Health Complex. 

Locals said that a police squad went to discharge duties at Moendia Bazar in the morning, where they found Malek’s tea stall and Nazrul Islam’s rod-cement shop in operation, with their doors open for business. Police had to request them to shutter their shops as part of the country’s social distancing protocols. 

Sources requesting anonymity said that at one stage a disagreement developed between the law enforcers and Abdul Mannan Molla, president of the Bazar Traders Association, and perhaps more importantly Science and Technology Secretary of Poromeshwardi union Awami League.

As the policemen asked Mannan Molla to maintain social distance, his son Harez Molla and tea shopkeeper Malek’s son Hasan, alongside several others ambushed the law-enforcers with sticks in a surprise attack. 

Aminur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Boalmari police station, said: “The four policemen were on duty at the Moendia Bazar to raise awareness among the people as part of checking the spread of Coronavirus. They were injured in an attack by associates of the Moendia Bazar shop owners’ committee, after one tea stall and a rod-cement shop were closed down. Efforts continue to identify those involved with the incident.” 

Several attempts were made by UNB throughout the evening and well past midnight to contact Mannan Molla on his cellphone, but it was switched off all night. .

Meanwhile, Md Nurul Alam Mina Mukul, Poromeshwardi UP Chairman, condemned the incident and called for the arrest of the perpetrators.