Lakshmipur ADC made OSD as brawl with ex-civil surgeon blows out of proportion

The additional deputy commissioner (general) of Lakshmipur has been made “officer on special duty” by the government following a scuffle between him and a former civil surgeon, which led to three-month jail time of the latter, ruled by a mobile court. A Ministry of Public Administration circular, signed by the ministry’s Senior Assistant Secretary Dewan Mahbubur Rahman, also notified that the OSD order will be effective immediately.A mobile court sentenced former Lakshmipur acting civil surgeon Salahuddin Sharif to three months in jail on Monday for “mistreating” Lakshmipur Additional Deputy Commissioner Shaikh Murshidul Islam. The former civil surgeon and the ADC were engaged in a brawl over entry into the schoolyard of Kakoli Shishu School, which is under the supervision of the district administration, in the town. Dr Salahuddin and ADC Murshidul went to the school to pick up their grandson and son respectively. Later, police sent Salahuddin to jail. On Tuesday afternoon, Lakshmipur’s Additional District Magistrate Mir Shawkat Ali granted bail to Dr Salahuddin on a Tk5,000 bond, after Dr Salahuddin Sharif’s lawyer filed a petition with the court on Tuesday morning.

High Court summons ADC, Lakshmipur UNO

A High Court bench has ordered ADC Murshidul and Md Nuruzzaman, Lakshmipur Sadar upazila executive officer (UNO) who manages the mobile courts under his jurisdiction, to appear before it on December 13 to explain the scuffle incident and sentencing by the mobile court. The division bench of Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque and Justice Mohammad Ullah came up with the ruling on Tuesday after hearing a petition filed by two Supreme Court lawyers – Kamal Hossain Niazi and Ashfaqur Rahman.

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Also Read- Ex-civil surgeon gets bail in case filed over scuffle with Lakshmipur ADC

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The court also issued a ruling asking a number of respondents to explain why the verdict by a mobile court over a “personal dispute” should not be declared illegal. The secretary to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, secretary to the Home Ministry, Lakshmipur deputy commissioner and additional deputy commissioner, Lakshmipur Sadar UNO, and incumbent civil surgeon of the district have been made respondents to the ruling. Lakshmipur former civil surgeon Dr Salahuddin Sharif after he was granted bail in a case filed over a brawl between him and the district's ADC Shaikh Murshidul Islam Dhaka Tribune

Health minister terms the incident “unfortunate”

Meanwhile, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim termed the incident of sending Dr Salahuddin Sharif to jail “hasty” and "unfortunate", reports BSS. "It was not wise to send a government employee to jail immediately … Serving people is the main objective of them and sending of former civil surgeon of Lakshmipur to jail was unfortunate," he said while addressing the concluding program of burn and plastic surgery camp at Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialized Hospital and Nursing College in Gazipur as chief guest.

Ex-civil surgeon garners support from fellow professionals

In Lakshmipur, doctors and medical technologists of Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital have been observing work abstention since Tuesday morning, protesting the verdict of the mobile court, reports UNB. According to protesters, they will continue their program until withdrawal of the case and canceling of the punishment, said physician Ashfakur Rahman Mamun, district unit president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA). The protesting doctors and medical staff took position at the office of the deputy commissioner in the morning suspending medical activities.Bangla Tribune contributed to this article