Tangail: A man was killed when police reportedly fired on supporters of Awami League-backed chairman candidate and supporters of independent chairman candidate at Sagordighi union council in Ghatail upazila of Tangail early on Thursday.

Voting at the Gupta Brindabon Government Primary School centre has been suspended following the violence, said Tajul Islam, district election officer.

Sanjit Kumar Roy, Superintendent of Tangail Police, said a group of people around 150 attacked the centre to loot ballot papers around 3:00am, hours before the beginning of balloting in the union election. 

As per instruction of the presiding officer, police fired bullets on the ballot papers snatchers to bring the situation under control, leaving Abdul Malek, in his forties, a resident of the village, dead on the spot, the SP added.

Local people said they had learnt that supporters of Awami League-back chairman candidate Hekmat Sikder were stuffing ballot papers at Brindabon Government Primary School centre around 3:00am. Then supporters of independent candidate Habibullah Bahar along with locals rushed to the spot and tried to obstruct them, triggering a clash.

People from inside the centre fired bullets to create panic and police then fired back to bring the situation under control, leaving one shot dead on the spot, they added.