Six people have been arrested in connection with an attack during an operation conducted by the Department of Environment at an illegal polythene factory in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar.
The arrests were made on Monday and Tuesday through operations in various areas of Chawkbazar by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) and Chawkbazar police station.
The arrested individuals are Md Humayun Kabir, 28, Md Ariful Islam 40, Anwar Hossain Khokon 48, Md Shahabuddin 45, Md Nazmul Alam Ujjal 36, and Md Sumon 26.
According to a press release from the media wing of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), an executive magistrate of the Department of Environment, Faizunnessa Akter, led a mobile court operation against polythene in the Chawkbazar area on Sunday at around 11am, with the assistance of the police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
During the operation, 40 sacks of polythene were seized from a rented house belonging to Kabir Hossain and Ilyas Sardar in West Islam Bagh. The seized items were being loaded onto a pickup truck when 150–200 people attacked the team with sticks, bricks, and iron rods.
The attack left Md Shawkat Ali, director (deputy secretary) of the Monitoring and Enforcement Wing of the Department of Environment, seriously injured. The attackers also forcibly snatched the seized polythene.
Following the incident, Md Motaher Hossain, an inspector of the Department of Environment, filed a case at Chawkbazar model police station.
During the investigation of the case, Humayun Kabir and Ariful Islam were arrested on Monday night through a joint operation by the DB and police from Chawkbazar police station.
On Tuesday, a raid in various areas of Chawkbazar led to the arrests of Khokon, Shahabuddin, Md Nazmul Hasan Ujjal, and Md Sumon.