45 ‘BCL men’ sued for vandalising, looting shop

Some 45 alleged BCL activists were sued yesterday over ransacking and looting a store that sells clothes, shoes, and perfume in Barishal city.

According to the case statement, around 40 to 50 youths went to the shop "Top Ten Mart Ltd" in the city's Sadar Road area around 6:00pm Sunday.

They randomly started picking multiple products. When the shop employees asked for payment, the youths replied that a BCL activist would pay later. Then, the youths tried to flee the scene.

When the shop staffers tried to resist them, a clash between them and the youths broke out. The youths then vandalised the store's windows, ransacked and looted products, the statement said.

The clash left four staffers injured, it added.

During the clash, most of the youths managed to flee the scene. But the staffers could catch five of them.

The employees dialed 999 and sought help from law enforcers. Police rushed to the spot and detained the five.

Three of the detainees are Rakib Hossain, 22, Shakil Ahmed, 22, and Md Uzzal, 19. This newspaper is not disclosing the names of two others as they are children.

Locals said most of the attackers were activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League, pro-Awami League student body.

Police said store manager Imran Sheikh yesterday filed a case against 45 youths with Kotwali Model Police Station.

The accused include five detainees, 30 named youths and the rest unnamed ones.

Police, however, said political identities of the accused could not be known immediately.

Most of the accused are students of different educational institutions in Barishal, said Nurul Islam, officer-in-charge of the police station.

"We have taken the case seriously and are trying to identify the looters scrutinising CCTV footage. We hope that we can arrest the criminals shortly," the police officer told The Daily Star yesterday.

Md Shahabuddin Khan, commissioner of Barishal Metropolitan Police, said they would take strict action against the accused.