UNO Wahida regains consciousness, can speak: Physician

Wahida Khanam, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Ghoraghat in Dinajpur, has regained consciousness after surgery and she can speak now.

The UNO was attacked by miscreants at her residence and sustained at least nine head injuries.

Physician Zahed Hossain, who performed the surgery on Wahida Khanam at the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in Dhaka’s Agargaon, told this to Prothom Alo on Friday morning.

The hospital’s neurosurgery department professor Zahed Hossain said Wahida Khanam had at least nine head injuries. The skull bone that was broken and lodged inside her head was removed during the surgery.

“She regained consciousness around 1:30 in the night. She also spoke. The right side of her body is still numb. It may take time to recover,” the physician said.

On Thursday night, Wahida Khanam underwent a two-and-a-half-hour complicated surgery at the neurosciences hospital. Six physicians took part in the operation. An anesthetist was also with her.

While speaking to Prothom Alo around 11:45 yesterday night, professor Badrul Alam, joint director of the neurosciences hospital, said she is under observation.

Wahida Khanam was brought to the neurosciences hospital shortly after 3:00pm yesterday. Hospital authorities have already formed a medical team to treat her.

Director of the hospital Deen Mohammad said Wahida’s head injury is very complex and serious.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement has detained a local leader of Jubo League, the youth wing of ruling Bangladesh Awami League, and another person in connection with the attack on UNO Wahida and her father Omar Ali Sheikh early Friday.

The arrested are Jahangir Hossain, 42, of Raniganj Kashigari area in Ghoraghat upazila and Asadul Islam, 35, of Osmanpur Sagarpara area of the same upazila.

Dinajpur additional deputy magistrate Asif Mahmud on Thursday said the incident took place on Wednesday night.

According to local people, the miscreants broke the ventilator of the UNO’s residence and entered her bedroom first. Before that, the miscreants tied up the security guard of the residence and locked up him in the guard room. Her father was also attacked.

The UNO's father Omar Ali is undergoing treatment at the neurology surgery ward of Rangpur Medical College Hospital. His head and body were also hit with metal objects.

"I got up around 4.30 in the morning to perform prayers and heard the screams of my daughter from the next room. When I tried to go there, a man, his face covered with a cloth, threatened me and asked for the key of the wardrobe. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t comply. He then struck me on on my head with a hammer and I fell to the floor. I can't remember anything after that," the UNO’s father told Prothom Alo at the hospital on Thursday.