In Barisal, a case has finally been registered against the local lawmaker and former minister, two former BCC mayors, the district council president, and 377 others from the top leadership and affiliated organizations of the metropolitan Awami League for vandalizing and looting the BNP office on August 5.
Barisal Metropolitan BNP Convener Moniruzzaman Farooq filed the case yesterday morning following internal negotiations among party leaders.
The accused include former State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Farooq Shamim, two former city mayors Abul Khair Abdullah (Khokan Serniabat) and Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, and Zilla Parishad Chairman AKM Jahangir.
Awami League-supported councillors of the Barisal City Corporation have also been named in the case.
The complaint also mentions over 600 unidentified individuals as unknown accused.
Barisal Kotwali police station OC Mustafizur Rahman confirmed that the complaint was officially registered as an FIR yesterday morning.
In the case statement, the plaintiff alleged that on August 4, the accused, in broad daylight and as part of a pre-planned attack, used pistols, shotguns, cocktails, ramadas, chapatis, Chinese axes, and knives to assault the BNP office near the town hall premises on Sadar Road in the city.
They allegedly created a terrifying situation by shooting and detonating cocktails, then entered the BNP office, vandalizing furniture and goods worth lakhs of taka, including TVs, computers, and sound systems.
The complainant further alleged that the accused damaged books in the Zia Smriti Library and set them on fire.
At one point, the accused reportedly set fire to the BNP party office and also burned four motorcycles parked in front of the office.
The OC said that the police will begin efforts to detain the accused as soon as possible.
OC Mostafizur Rahman also mentioned that on August 20-21, three BNP leaders submitted three separate complaints about the same incident. After receiving these complaints, BNP leaders were asked to submit a consolidated complaint, as multiple cases could not be lodged for a single incident.
Finally, after receiving the consolidated complaint, the case was officially registered yesterday.
