A Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader, who sustained bullet injuries during the incident of attacking a patrolling team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Jaliapalong of Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar, died while undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital on Tuesday morning.
RAB has filed a lawsuit against 42 leaders and activists of the BNP in this connection as well.
Deceased Jagir Hossain, 38, was an assistant organising secretary to Ward no. 1 of Jaliapalong union.
Jagir’s nephew Shihab Uddin confirmed the information to Prothom Alo.
He said his uncle sustained a bullet injury at his belly during the attack and was admitted to CMCH. He breathed his last while undergoing treatment there.
Police and local people said deceased Jagir Hossain is the accused no. 14 in the case filed by RAB at Ukhia police station this morning. Many unnamed people were also made accused in the case.
Local sources said the incident of attack took place on Sunday midnight when the RAB patrol team went to Painasia village in Jaliapalong union to arrest Ukhia upazila unit BNP’s general secretary Sultan Mahmud Chowdhury and others accused in a sabotage case.
Several hundreds of BNP leaders and activists attacked the RAB team with bamboo and brickbats. At one stage, both sides opened fire. Jagir Hossain sustained bullet injuries while a RAB vehicle was damaged during the skirmish.
Ukhia police station officer-in-charge Sheikh Mohammad Ali told Prothom Alo that a case has been filed against 42 BNP leaders and activists for attacking RAB. However, none has been shown arrested in the incident so far.
The OC further said they were informed that bullet-injured Jagir Hossain succumbed to his injuries at CMCH.
Claiming that the attack on RAB is a “misunderstanding”, Cox’s BAzar district BNP president Shahjahan Chowdhury told Prothom Alo, “BNP has been organising strikes and blockade programmes peacefully. But BNP leaders and activists are being forced to stay out of their homes by making them accused in cases filing on allegations of torching vehicles and vandalism.”
Common people are becoming aggrieved due to raiding the houses of BNP leaders and activists in the name of searching to make arrests at the dead of night, he claimed.
Asked about the attack, RAB-15 Cox’s Bazar battalion senior assistant director (law and media) and additional police super Md Abu Salam Chowdhury said most of the people of hilly Painasia village are supporters of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The house of Sultan Mahmud is in that village.
He further stated that the BNP leaders and activists from Painasia and the adjacent areas are accused in cases filed on charges of torching and vandalising vehicles in Dhaka, Cox’s Bazar and Ukhia during the BNP’s strike and blockade programmes. Several hundred people including the BNP leaders and activists attacked a RAB team when they went there to make arrests. They also opened firing from firearms. At one stage, RAB fired several rounds of blank shots to bring the situation under control as the glass of their vehicle was also broken, Abu Salam Chowdhury added.