A fish farmer hurled a shoe at the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Bogra on Sunday, after apparently becoming agitated for being denied the opportunity to voice his complaint during a public hearing.
However, the shoe did not reach the ACC chairman.
The incident occurred at around 11am at the Shaheed Titu Auditorium in Bogra.
According to eyewitnesses, the thrower, named Shakoat Hossain Mondol, is landless and hails from Sonatala upazila in Bogra.
In 2017, after refusing to pay extortion to an Awami League leader who was also the then-upazila chairman, his house came under attack. Fish worth Tk21 lakh were looted from his three ponds.
He later held multiple press conferences and lodged complaints with the local police station and various government offices, but no action was taken, leaving him frustrated, locals said.
Most recently, he tried to file a complaint during an ACC public hearing at Bogra’s Satmatha. There, too, his complaint was not accepted.
On Sunday morning, when he attended the public hearing at the Shaheed Titu Auditorium and was again denied the chance to speak, Mondol suddenly lost his temper and threw his shoe towards ACC Chairman Dr Mohammad Abdul Momen on stage.
Security personnel immediately escorted him out of the venue.
Speaking to journalists about his actions, Mondol said he is landless and has repeatedly sought justice from various offices without success, despite the Human Rights Commission ruling in his favour twice.
“The ACC event is only accepting complaints from the (Bogra) Sadar police station area, not mine. Out of frustration, I threw the shoe. If I face jail or even execution for this, I am ready,” he said.
Meanwhile, ACC Chairman Dr Mohammad Abdul Momen said: “The person may not have submitted his application in the proper manner, which is why we were not aware of his complaint.”