18 AL leaders go to India for treatment today
Conditions of others hurt in grenade attacks worsen
Staff Correspondent
Condition of some of the Awami League (AL) leaders, who are under treatment in different city hospitals since sustaining severe shrapnel wounds in the August 21 grenade attacks, worsened while 18 others fly to India today for better treatment.AL and its front organisation leaders who are leaving Dhaka early this morning are Obaidul Kader, Bahauddin Nasim, Enamul Haque Shamim, Ishak Ali Khan Panna, Ajay Kar Khokan, Nazrul Islam Babu, Shahabuddin Farazi, Bahar Mia, Nasima Ferdousi, Asma Zerin Jhuma, Najimuddin Talukdar, Shahida Tareq Dipti, Rashida Akhter Ruma, Doulatunnahar, Momtaz Hossain and Ilias Mollah. They will receive treatment either in Kolkata or Delhi. Besides, two of Sheikh Hasina's security personnel, Major (retd) Tareq Siddiqui and SM Kamal Hossain will also be off today for further treatment abroad. AL President Sheikh Hasina will bear most of their medical expenses. Meanwhile, doctors in the hospitals said they are unable to remove the shrapnel as any further surgery may cause further damage to the surrounding tissues. Condition of Neela Choudhury, women's affairs secretary of Dhaka Mahanagar Shechha Shebok League, who is under treatment at Samorita Hospital with over 100 splinters, remained critical. Neela told The Daily Star, "I still have no sensation in my right leg. Doctors here are unable to take out the splinters since those remain dangerously close to the bones, veins and joints." She said doctors here are struggling to contain infection and that's why she immediately needs advanced treatment abroad. She will soon seek financial assistance from Awami League president to this end. Md Ataullah, organising secretary of Kotwali thana unit AL, is undergoing treatment at the Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital with over 250 grenade splinters. His brother, Md Musa, said, "My brother's condition is quite serious as doctors can't do anything to remove the metal pieces from his body. His lower bone in the left leg is broken and he has lost two fingers." Ataullah does not feel any sensation in his right hand as well and it is deteriorating day by day, doctors said. Musa said the AL leaders are considering sending Ataullah to Thailand for advanced treatment. Meanwhile, some other mid-level AL leaders, including Rashedul Alam Moina, Aulad Hossain and Aany, are undergoing treatment at the same hospital. Former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Mohammad Hanif and his son Sayeed Khokan were discharged from BIRDEM hospital on August 26.
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