Bangladesh News

Cases were filed with different police stations in the capital in the last three days against 42,000 unidentified people, including students.

Charges ranging from staging demonstrations violating the emergency power rules, to attacking law enforcers during the recent unrest that spilt over to different parts of the city following Monday night’s incidents on the Dhaka University (DU) campus, were brought against the accused.

Mohammadpur, Sutrapur, and Kotwali police arrested four people and picked up nine others, without showing them arrested, in connection with the cases till yesterday, while different teams of law enforcement agencies including police have been conducting drives to capture some other identified demonstrators who took part in the protests on Tuesday and Wednesday after the clashes had crossed the boundaries of the DU campus, police sources said.

Forty-two other people were also arrested by different law enforcement agencies, including the army, from Khilgaon area for violating curfew in the last two days, the sources added.

Separate raids were conducted in several parts of the capital on Thursday night to arrest the demonstrators.

The unidentified suspects are accused in 12 separate cases filed with seven police stations on different charges under the Emergency Power Rules, 2007. The police stations are Dhanmondi, Ramna, Shahbagh, Mohammadpur, New Market, Sutrapur, and Kotwali.

Police sources said the drives to capture the demonstrators are being conducted based on the information gleaned by different intelligence agencies from news clippings and different statements issued by the protesters against the incidents on the DU campus.

The law enforcers are also examining video footage and photographs to identify the persons involved in the clashes, the sources added.

Five of the cases were filed with Shahbagh police station accusing 12,000 people including students. A group of six to seven people is accused in a case filed with the police station for setting a military vehicle on fire. Three more cases were under the process of being filed yesterday at the police station.

About 3,000 to 4,000 unidentified students of Jagannath University were sued in a case filed with Kotwali police station for vandalising vehicles in front of the university and for creating disorder at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

The people arrested in the capital include Abul Kalam, ANM Danisul Islam, Zakir, Jashim, Anwar, Makbul and Imran.

“Our teams are out to capture people whom we have already identified, while two separate cases were filed since August 22 accusing 7,000 to 9,000 people,” said an on-duty officer of Kotwali police station, seeking anonymity.

“We will live in uncertainty and fear of arrest indefinitely from now on. I don’t know what is waiting for us,” said a resident of Muhammadpur area, preferring anonymity.

BARISAL
Our Barisal correspondent reported that a case was filed with Kotwali police station there, accusing 400 students of Barisal Govt Brojo Mohon College of vandalising vehicles and assaulting police.

Police also raided the houses of prominent student leaders in the divisional city yesterday, but did not detain any person.

Four people were arrested from different parts of Barisal city since the curfew had been imposed.

The arrested are Rakib Hussein, Shafikul Islam, Azad Akon, and Shahjahan Mia.

Earlier, a case was filed with Motihar police station of Rajshahi on Thursday accusing 2,500 Rajshahi University students of violence on campus and outside on August 22.