Police on Tuesday night took six injured leaders of Notun Dhara Bangladesh into protective custody after they remained inside the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for nearly three hours following clashes with activists of the State Dialogue Forum (SDF).
The leaders, including Chairman Momin Mehedi, Senior Vice-Chairman Shanta Farzana, Vice-Chairman Dr Nurjahan Neera, Joint Secretary General Monir Zaman, Organising Secretaries Atap Mondal and Haridas Sarkar, were escorted from the hospital under police protection around 11:10pm and taken to Shahbagh Police Station, Ramna Division Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Rabbani said.
Police said the group remained confined inside the hospital after fresh clashes erupted when supporters of the two organisations arrived there for treatment following an earlier confrontation near the Jatiya Press Club.
The six remained confined inside the hospital's emergency department before police safely escorted them to the police station.
Witnesses said some people attempted to attack the group as police escorted them out of the hospital.
The clashes temporarily disrupted emergency medical services at the DMCH.
Both Notun Dhara Bangladesh and the State Dialogue Forum blamed each other for the violence.