Ujirpur Barisal Correspondent,
A local Krishak Dal and Chhatra Dal leader have been accused of attacking workers of a bridge construction project in Barisal's Ujirpur Upazila after they failed to receive a bribe from the contractor and the joint convener of the BNP. The BNP leader alleged that Ujirpur Upazila Krishak Dal member secretary Swapan Mallick and Upazila Chhatra Dal convener Monir Hossain Sardar and their associates carried out the attack, vandalism and looting in two phases. A case was filed at Ujirpur Model Police Station on Friday night in this incident.
Uzirpur Upazila BNP Joint Convener Rafiquzzaman alias Liton alleged that he was awarded the work of constructing a bridge at a cost of Tk 1.74 crore under a project of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in the North Barakotha area of Uzirpur Upazila. When this work started, Uzirpur Upazila Chhatra Dal Convener Monir Hossain Sardar demanded a bribe of Tk 1 million from his business partner Barisal South District Juba Dal Joint Convener Masum Mallick. Chhatra Dal leader Monir Hossain Sardar, Upazila Krishak Dal Member Secretary Swapan Mallick and their associates got angry when the demanded money was not paid.
As a result, on the evening of February 26, Monir Hossain Sardar, Swapan Mallick and their 20-25 associates launched an ambush attack on the workers engaged in the construction of the bridge. During this time, they entered the construction area of the bridge under construction, beat up the workers, and vandalized the temporary office building and six CCTV cameras. The attackers also destroyed the food cooked by the workers. The workers engaged in the bridge construction, Atiqur Rahman, Lyon Islam, and Riyad Hossain, were seriously injured in the attack. They were later rescued and admitted to the Uzirpur Upazila Health Complex. In addition, it is alleged that the attackers beat up and molested a female worker, Maya Begum.
Later that night, they launched a second attack on the house of contractor Rafiquzzaman's business partner, Jubo Dal leader Masum Mallick, in the Dhamura area. They entered the house and looted mobile phones and gold ornaments. At that time, the attackers fled before the villagers could reach them when the local mosque announced the arrival of the robbers.
However, Krishak Dal leader Swapan Mallick and Chhatra Dal leader Monir Hossain Sardar denied these allegations and told Prothom Alo, "These incidents are a staged drama. These false allegations have been fabricated to politically trap us."
In this incident, contractor Rafiquzzaman filed a case with Uzirpur Model Police Station against Upazila Chhatra Dal convener Monir Hossain Sardar, Krishak Dal leader Swapan Mallick and their associates. The case names ten people and names ten other unidentified people.
The plaintiff in the case and BNP leader Rafiquzzaman alleged that the police initially hesitated to file a case, but finally filed it last Friday night. However, no one has been arrested yet.
In this regard, Uzirpur Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Adus Salam said, "A case has been registered on charges of extortion. Legal action will be taken against those involved in this matter after investigating the incident."
