All about scales

Oct. 25: A petty quarrel between a fish trader and a customer looking for a good bargain triggered a free-for-all at a village market in Karimganj district on Wednesday night.

At least 25 people were injured, most of them critically, in the clash between residents of two villages.

Police said a customer, Abdul Majid of Syedpur village, entered the market at Bagarsangan village around 8pm and haggled with a fishmonger over the price of a large rohu. Just as the two were engaged in the usual bargaining routine, another person, Kala Mian of Bhitargul village, approached the seller and insisted that he had chosen it first.0

One by one, everyone in the vicinity got entangled in the quarrel, which later spread across the market. As soon as news of the fighting reached the villages to which the two prospective buyers belonged, thousands of people from both areas converged on the fish market with sticks and sharp weapons. Both groups battled it out for a while.

Some of the villagers damaged shops in the market.

Karimganj superintendent of police Mihir Goswami said both villages were tense since the incident. The injured persons were admitted to Karimganj Civil Hospital.