HC summons OC over death in Banshkhali clash

Police have been ordered to explain to the High Court why they did not accept the complaint of a woman whose husband died in a clash over the construction of the Banshkhali coal-fired power plant in Chittagong last month. The High Court bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque on Monday ordered Banshkhali OC Alamgir Hossain to appear before it with explanations on April 5 at 10:30am. The court in a rule asked the government authorities concerned to explain in four weeks as to why the complaint submitted by the victim's wife should not be considered as FIR. The move was made following primary hearing in a writ petition filed by her on Monday. A views exchange meeting between two parties for and against the construction of the plant at the project site at Gondamara union in Banshkhali on February 1 escalated into violence, killing Mohammad Ali, 35, and injuring 16 more. On February 3, the OC told the media that they had lodged a case accusing 150-200 unnamed locals, since no relative of the deceased turned up with a complaint. However, Ali's wife Rumi Akter, in her writ petition said that she visited the police station on February 2 and submitted a written complaint over her husband's death, naming 29 accused and 13 witnesses. The police received the complaint on February 3 but did not follow through. Instead, they filed a case on their own accusing unknown persons. Lawyer of the writ petitioner, AKM Faiz said that they had also prayed for an order to have Rumi's complaint investigated by the CID. The court may hold a hearing on that after the OC submits his explanations. On February 16, the government signed a deal allowing the joint venture of S Alam Group and China’s SEPCO-3 Electric Power Construction Corporation and HTG Group to build an Ultra-supercritical thermal power plant with a net capacity of 1224MW at a cost of $2.4bn. The Bangladesh Navy, local administration and S Alam Group (sponsor of the project) jointly organised the meeting to raise awareness among the villagers about the proposed coal-based power plant. Bangladesh Navy is currently supervising the security of the project site in collaboration with police.