UNO’s vehicle vandalised for mismanagement in Victory Day programme

Locals vandalized vehicle of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Kotchandpur in Jhenaidah alleging mismanagement in Victory Day programme. UNO Uchen May was also harassed.

The incident took place at Kotchandpur Boy’s School Shaheed Minar premises at around 8:15am. Locals said that every year, a Victory Day ceremony is held at the premises of the Kotchandpur Upazila Central Shaheed Minar. The Shaheed Minar is washed and cleaned on special days every year, but this time it was not done. There was no microphone arrangement for the ceremony. A security cordon was also not set up to prevent disorder.

Witnesses said the upazila administration paid respect to martyrs at 8:00am followed by political parties and different social organisations. However, UNO Uchen May arrived a little after the scheduled time which angered the crowd present. The UNO's late arrival was compounded by the mismanagement issues.

After the UNO got out of the car, the angry crowd surrounded her and started protesting. The crowd also harassed her at that time. Local BNP leaders, as well as police and Ansar members, came forward to handle the situation. At one stage, people threw bricks at the UNO's car breaking its glass. At around 10:00am, the UNO, with the cooperation of local political leaders and police, laid a flower wreath and participated in another programme of the upazila administration.

Upazila BNP’s president Abdur Razzaq said the mismanagement of the organisers angered the local people. The issue was settled.

UNO did not respond to calls for a comment on the incident.

Jhenaidah’s deputy commissioner Md Abdul Awal said it is not clear yet how the incident took place and why there was mismanagement.

He added that all the government programmes were carried out smoothly.