Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP) has lodged a case against 280 people, including the central, district and city leadership of Jatiya Party, for allegedly attacking Gono Odhikar Parishad activists.
On Saturday night, Shafiqul Islam Sagar, senior vice president of Barisal Metropolitan GOP, filed the case at Kotwali model police station.
The case names 30 people and 250 people have been named as unknown accused.
Notable among the accused in the case are Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader, Secretary General Mojibul Haque Chunnu, central leaders Saidul Islam Tapa, Ruhul Amin Howlader, Ratna Amin, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, AKM Selim Osman, Barisal district JaPa General Secretary MA Jalil, Metropolitan JaPa Convener Mohsin Ul Islam Habul and Chhatra League leader Prince Mahmud Sohel.
Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali police station, said that the complaint filed on the allegation of attack on GOP activists has been accepted as a case.
“The accused in the case will be arrested as soon as possible,” the OC added.
The case documents say that on Saturday afternoon, after party activities, GOP activists were drinking tea at a tea shop on Fakir Bari Road of Barisal city, when the Jatiya Party(JaPa) activists brought out a procession on that road.
“Along with the Jatiya Party, the procession also included activists from the Awami League and Chhatra League. They were raising slogans against the interim government’s chief adviser, advisory council, and leaders of the GOP,” the statement added.
“The leaders and activists of the GOP requested the Jatiya Party leaders to stop raising anti-government slogans. But the Jatiya Party leaders became enraged and attacked the activists of the GOP with axes, machetes, pistols, iron rods, bamboos and bricks,” the statement further added.
About 20 activists of the GOP were reportedly seriously injured in the attack.
The plaintiff in the case, Shafiqul Islam Sagar, said: “The Jatiya Party, an ally of the Awami League, attacked and injured our innocent unarmed leaders and activists. The Jatiya Party has no right to do politics in Bangladesh.”
“The police have accepted our case. We want the police to arrest the attackers immediately,” the GOP leader added.
“Earlier, at around 8:30pm, the district and metropolitan Jatiya Party offices on Fakir Bari Road were vandalized. The attack was carried out with sticks, calling the Jatiya Party an ally of the Awami League,” said Professor Mohsin Ul Islam Habul, convener of the Barisal metropolitan JaPa.
Habul said: “Miscreants attacked our procession in the afternoon for no reason. We do not know those who carried out the attack.”
JaPa sources said that as part of the nationwide protest against the attack on the Rangpur residence of JaPa Chairman GM Quader, district and city JaPa arranged a protest rally at the party office on Sadar Road-Fakir Bari Road junction on Saturday evening.
After that program, when the protest procession of JaPa activists approached on Sadar Road, the activists of the GOP allegedly attacked the JaPa procession with sticks. At this time, when the JaPa also attacked in return, a clash broke out between the two sides.
Later, JaPa leaders and activists detained one of the attackers and handed him over to the police.
Then, activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad went from there and took up a position in front of Kotwali police station and continued to protest, demanding the arrest of the accused JaPa leaders and activists.
