Two imprisoned accused of attacking police box in Chattogram
Police has mentioned in a case that two leaders of Chhatra Dal and Swechchasebak Dal have attacked and vandalised a police box in Chattogram during the quota reform movement on 19 July. However, the police had already arrested and sent those two to prison in a separate case two days earlier.
In a clash of quota reform protesters with Chhatra League and Jubo League, three people were killed with about 50 people being injured in city’s Muradnagar area on 16 July. Being the plaintiff, police and Chhatra League filed five cases with city’s Panchlaish police station in connection to this incident. One of those is a murder case.
Sub-inspector (SI) of Panchlaish police station, Deepak Dewan filed the murder case on 17 July accusing 6,500 unidentified persons. On the same day member secretary of city Chhatra Dal, Shafiqul Islam and joint convener of city Swechchasebak Dal Jamir Uddin were arrested from Kazir Deuri area as suspects under that case.
The investigating officer of that case, SI of Panchlaish police station Imam Hossain sent 63 people including those two Chhatra Dal and Swechchasebak Dal leaders to the court on that same afternoon. The police petition stated that if they are released on bail, there remains a risk of peace and order being disrupted again. The court then sent them to prison.
They are in prison since 17 July, then how did they attack the police box on 19 July? In response to this question, Chattogram city police commissioner Md Saiful Islam told Prothom Alo that there is a high number of accused in these cases. The matter is being investigated.
There was an incident of traffic police box being vandalised and chase-counter chase with the police at city’s New Market and Kazir Deuri areas, from a protest march brought out from city’s Andarkilla area centering the quota reform movement on 19 July.
Four cases including three under the anti-terrorism act, obstruction of police duties and explosives act were filed in connection to this incident. As many as four to five thousand unidentified people were accused in those three cases including 60 names being mentioned. The accused in all three cases are the same, but the section numbers are different.
In the FIR of each of those three cases, city Chhatra Dal member secretary Shafiqul Islam is accused at number 43 while city Swechchasebak League joint convener Zamir Uddin is accused at number 49. The statements of the three cases states that the accused people threw brickbats, blasted crude bombs (cocktails), attacked the police box and vandalised the area from Andarkilla to Kazir Deuri in the city.
When asked how the imprisoned have blasted cocktails, plaintiff of the case SI Borhan Uddin of Kotwali police outpost said, “That is not possible. We are looking into the matter.”
Former joint convener of city BNP Abdus Sattar, who conducts the cases of BNP leaders and activists, claimed that the leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliated organisations are being named in false cases for political harassment even though they are not involved. Not even imprisoned leaders are being spared.