Ansari janaza: Seven villages in Brahmanbaria locked down

Local administration on Sunday put seven villages in Sarail and Ashuganj upazilas of Brahmanbaria under lockdown, aiming to minimize the risks of the novel coronavirus transmission after a huge number of people attended a funeral prayer in the area on Saturday violating the social distancing rule.

Md Alamgir Hossain, the district’s additional superintendent of police, said they put Shantinagar, Sitaharan, Boroibari and Bertala villages under Sarail, and Khariala, Bogoir, and Moishai villages under Ashuganj under lockdown, reports UNB.

The residents of the villages have been asked to stay at home for the next 14 days, he added.

Visiting the area, a UNB correspondent found police were trying to stop vehicular movement on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway and some people were going to their destinations on foot.

Earlier in the day, Police Headquarters in Dhaka formed a three-member committee to look into the massive gathering at the funeral of Maulana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari at Bertala in Sarail upazila on Saturday morning.

Sarail circle Senior Assistant SP Masud Rana, Sarail police station OC Shahadat Hossain Titu and Inspector (Investigation) Nurul Haque were withdrawn for failing to prevent the large number of people from attending the funeral prayer.

Some 100,000 people had attended the namaz-e-janaza of Ansari, violating the government’s instruction to maintain social distancing for curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.