Bangladesh News

As soon as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was formed with breakaway BNP leaders and activists Thursday, enraged BNP men led a wave of attacks on the new party across the country much as a repeat show of what happened when former president Badruddoza Chowdhury formed his Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh.
The BNP men mainly targeted the residences of the leaders who left the BNP to join the LDP. Eight residences and seven vehicles of LDP leaders were torched and bombs were hurled on the residences.

In one incident in Dhamrai, BNP men attacked a market in Balia Thursday in protest against BNP lawmaker Barrister Ziaur Rahman Khan’s joining the LDP and sprayed bullets that killed a shopkeeper, Aslam Khan.

In most cases, police remained inactive or turned up late, alleged the victims.

The leaders whose residences came under attack are state ministers Redwan Ahmed and Alamgir Kabir, former speaker Shaikh Razzaq Ali, lawmakers Mohammad Ali Zinnah, Ziaur Rahman Khan, MA Karim Abbasi and Abdul Kader, and adviser to the prime minister Jahanara Begum.

Around 25 youths attacked the residence of Redwan at Uttara at around 4:30pm Thursday and set fire to the ground floor of the five-storey building. They also torched four vehicles, leaving five people injured.

Witnesses said the attackers left the spot before police appeared.

Two fire tenders rushed to the scene and controlled the fire. Police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have been deployed there to avert further violence.

A group of armed youths also set fire to the residence of state minister Alamgir Kabir at Masterpara in Noagoan at about 3:00pm Thursday.

Witnesses said the attackers vandalised the house and looted valuables before setting the residence ablaze. The criminals obstructed the firemen from dousing the blaze. A vehicle was badly burned in the arson.

Alamgir’s family members alleged that police did not turn up although they contacted the law enforcers several times.

The houses of Barrister Ziaur Rahman Khan and Mohammad Ali Zinnah came under attacks at Dhamrai in Dhaka and Mirersarai in Chittagong.

Bombs were hurled from a BNP procession on Zinnah’s house Thursday, leaving two of his domestic helps injured. The attackers later vandalised the house and set it on fire. The lawmaker’s younger sister Bulbul was injured in the attack.

Witnesses alleged that local BNP men led by ZA Khan, defence adviser to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, led the procession that attacked Zinnah’s house.

The residence of Prof Jahanara Begum, adviser to prime minister, also came under attack Thursday night. Some unknown men threw crackers on her Malibagh residence in the capital but none was injured.

Local BNP activists damaged business establishments of BNP MP Ali Kadar who also joined the LDP and burned his effigy at Bangaon in Jessore Friday noon.

Sharsha thana BNP also held a protest rally vowing to resist Ali Kadar. They termed him a “national betrayer” and declared him “unwanted” in Sharsha.

Local BNP men ransacked and looted the residence of MA Karim Abbasi, a BNP lawmaker, at Netrokona and burnt his effigy Thursday.

The ruling party men also looted and vandalised the residence of a trader, Anis Rahman, in Bogra at zero hours yesterday after he joined the LDP.

In Kishoreganj, BNP men tried to attack the residence of former deputy minister ABM Zahidul Huq Thursday for leaving the BNP to join the LDP. However, the attempt was foiled by Zahidul’s followers.

Meantime, a number of renegade BNP lawmakers left their NAM apartments in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Thursday fearing attacks by BNP activists.

Syed Monzur Hossain, lawmaker from Chapainawabganj, Abdul Karim Abbasi, lawmaker from Netrokona, and Ali Kadar, lawmaker from Jessore, left their NAM apartments Thursday evening.