Case Filed at Bhanga Thana, Nixon Chowdhury Named as Chief Accused

 Md. Sakhawat Hossain, Faridpur District Correspondent:

A case has been filed against former Member of Parliament and Jubo League presidium member Mujibur Rahman Nixon Chowdhury as the main accused in the attack and vandalism at Bhanga Thana, Faridpur.

The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bhanga Thana, Mohammad Ashraf Hossain, confirmed the matter on Wednesday night (September 17).

Earlier, on Tuesday night, Sub-Inspector Azaduzzaman of Bhanga Thana filed the case, naming 29 individuals, including Nixon Chowdhury, and an additional 100 to 150 unnamed people as accused. According to police sources, the accused include Md. Khokon Mia, Chairman of Hamirdi Union Parishad, and former district Chhatra League leader Touhidur Rahman Bulbul, among others.

The police-filed case statement claims that the attack and vandalism at the Thana resulted in damages worth 40 lakh BDT.

Background of the Protest and Violence

On September 4, the Election Commission published a gazette that separated the Algi and Hamirdi unions from Bhanga Upazila (Faridpur-4 constituency) and added them to the Faridpur-2 constituency. In protest, locals initially blocked the Dhaka-Khulna and Dhaka-Barisal highways on Friday, September 5. However, the protesters suspended the program for three days after receiving an assurance from UNO Md. Mizanur Rahman in the afternoon. When the problem was not solved by Monday, a three-day, day-long protest was announced to begin on Tuesday.

The blockade, which lasted from September 14 to 16, escalated into violence on the second day. In the afternoon, the protesters first chased police positioned at the Bhanga bus stand area before attacking the Bhanga Thana and vandalizing police vehicles. At the same time, the angry crowd also attacked and extensively vandalized various government offices, including the Upazila Parishad office and the Bhanga Highway Thana, and set some of them on fire.

An anonymous protester said, "We have been protesting peacefully for the last 5-7 days. We have not engaged in any vandalism or harm to anyone. The protest was peaceful, and we never wanted to vandalize anything. However, some miscreants committed the violence that happened on Sunday to sabotage our demands."

According to Thana sources, no one has been arrested in this case yet. A separate case is also being prepared for the vandalism at the Bhanga Upazila Parishad.

On Sunday afternoon, the Home Affairs Adviser announced that the movement would be strictly suppressed. Additionally, on Sunday (September 14), the police filed a case under the Speedy Trial Act against 90 named individuals, including the chairmen of Algi and Hamirdi unions, and 150 unnamed people. Algi Union Parishad Chairman M. M. Siddique Mia was later shown arrested in that case.