The band of Liton, Sumon and Emon, among others, beat Ahsan and tried to raid his shop in Majumdari area Friday evening, sparking a counter attack at about 9:00pm.

The gang left the scene sensing police presence near the shop, locals said.

Later, police arrested two people, one of them an employee of the shop, and took them to Ambarkhana police camp on charge of their involvement in the attacks.

On hearing the news, about 40 JCD activists went to the outpost and asked police to release the pair. As police declined to free them, the gang snatched their fellows, triggering a firefight that involved exchange of 50 bullets.

Officer-in-charge of Sylhet Kotwali Police Station visited the spot. Ward commissioners and local leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi and Farhad Chowdhury Shamim also visited the scene and said the gang was not in the BNP fold.

On Saturday morning, Ahsan's family filed a case with the police station.

Additional police were deployed in the area as tension ran high.