Attack on home of Chhatra Dal leader who accused Hannan Masud of a ‘multi-crore taka deal’
The home of a Chhatra Dal leader in Hatia upazila, Noakhali was attacked and vandalised. The victim, Chhatra Dal leader Abdul Gaffar (also known as Jisan), alleged that leaders of NCP attacked his home because he had spoken out against Abdul Hannan Masud, the Member of Parliament for the Noakhali-6 (Hatiya) constituency.
The incident occurred at around 8:45 pm on Thursday in the Sagaria Bazar area of Ward No. 8 under Burirchar union in the upazila. Abdul Gaffar is a member of the convening committee of the Jahangirnagar University unit BNP's student wing Chhatra Dal. Following the attack on his home, local leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliated organisations staged protests in the area later that night.
In a Facebook post published on 3 June, Rashed Khan, who recently joined BNP after leaving Gono Odhikar Parishad, alleged that Abdul Hannan Masud became involved in corruption following the mass uprising.
According to Rashed Khan, Hannan Masud had sought to escort a former Awami League member of parliament to the airport in exchange for money. At that time, Chhatra Dal leader Abdul Gaffar was reportedly staying with Hannan Masud.
Rashed Khan further alleged that, after a meeting with Awami League leaders, Hannan Masud told Gaffar: “They want to pay 1 crore taka; negotiate for 3 crore.”
On the same day, Abdul Gaffar shared Rashed Khan’s Facebook post on his own account. In response, Hannan Masud posted a recording of a phone conversation with Gaffar on his Facebook page. In the recording, Hannan Masud asks Gaffar why “false allegations” had been made against him. During the conversation, Gaffar eventually apologised.
Meanwhile, after Abdul Hannan Masud's post, Rashed Khan uploaded another video of Abdul Gaffar to Facebook. In the video, Gaffar claims that he had called Hannan Masud only to console him.
He also states that the allegation that Hannan Masud wanted to "make a deal for three crore taka" was completely true. However, according to Gaffar, the deal never materialised because he did not agree to it.
According to police and local residents, following the exchange of accusations on social media, a group of people threw bricks and stones at Abdul Gaffar's family home at around 8:45 pm. yesterday. The glass windows of the house were damaged. The incident caused panic in the family. Eventually, when local residents rushed to the scene after hearing the family's screams, the attackers fled.
After the incident, Abdul Gaffar wrote on his Facebook account that NCP activists had attacked his village home after allegations became public that Hannan Masud had demanded three crore taka from former Awami League MP Ekramul Karim Chowdhury.
He also claimed that he had received various threats online throughout the day beforehand.
Gaffar said, "I do not live at home. My elderly parents live there. What wrong had my parents done?"
When asked about the allegations, Mohammad Shamsu Tabriz, convener of the Hatiya upazila branch of the NCP, told Prothom Alo, "The allegations against NCP leaders and activists are completely baseless. How can student leader Abdul Gaffar be certain that NCP activists attacked their house? In fact, he himself staged this attack drama from Dhaka to cover up his own wrongdoing."
Shamsu Tabriz further that, at the request of MP Abdul Hannan Masud, he and other party leaders visited the house that night to express sympathy and solidarity with the family.
Abdul Hannan Masud, the Member of Parliament for the Noakhali-6 constituency, denied the allegation that he had sought crores of taka.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said: "The allegations made against me are completely baseless. The parliament will soon begin its session. All of this is being done to put pressure on us and for petty political motives. If what he (Abdul Gaffar) is saying is true, then why did he call me and apologise? This is all part of their drama."
\Md. Kabir Hossain, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Hatiya police station, told Prothom Alo that the police had visited the scene. He said that AKM Mosleh Uddin, the father of Chhatra Dal leader Abdul Gaffar, had been asked to submit a written complaint to the police station. If a complaint is received, it will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken.