Among five arrestees, three had to spend one night in jail before being released on bail. Asif and fellow shooter Shoebuzzaman were spared the humiliation of being sent to jail, but both have been struggling to forget the pain and horror on hospital beds.

Surprisingly, the State Minister for Youth and Sports Fazlur Rahman has so far kept mum about the whole incident when everyone expected the protector of sport to react. Not only he was unavailable to the reporters but also the shooting officials could not contact him.

"We have tried to contact the sports minister but in vain. We have had a talk with the sports secretary and want to go step by step. We have appealed to the sports federations to join us in this protest," National Shooting Federation general secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury told yesterday.

Meanwhile, different sports bodies and organisations have already announced their unity with the shooting federation.

Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) president and Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed condemned the police brutality and expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the injured shooters.

A BOA press release mentioned that if Asif could not take part in the coming Asian Games as a consequence of this police assault, it would be a great loss for the country and the persons involved would have to take responsibility.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board adopted a resolution condemning the attack in its annual general meeting yesterday.

Bangladesh Football Federation president SA Sultan and the other high-ups claimed that the incident has tarnished the image of the country to the world and demanded punishment of the guilty.

Mohammedan Sporting Club, Swadhin Bangla Football Dal, Narayanganj Shooting Club, Usha Krira Chakra and ex DG of BKSP and former national cricket manager MA Latif Khan denounced the barbaric incident and expressed their concern over the security of sportsmen. They also demanded punishment of the responsible persons to injure and humiliate an internationally acclaimed shooter and his colleagues.

It was not the first time that sports persons have suffered wrath of authority and police. Four national footballers including legendary striker Kazi Salahuddin were jailed in the early 80s while the police launched an assault on celebrity footballer late Monem Munna during a club match, injuring players and officials, a few years back. Earlier this year, the police got nasty when they severely beat up journalists during the Chittagong Test match between Bangladesh and Australia, a dark episode that was aired on TV worldwide.