Zafrullah, 60 others sued over vandalism, looting

Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury and more than 60 others have been sued for their alleged involvement in vandalising and looting a market in Dhaka’s Ashulia.

Nasir Uddin, a local Awami League leader who owns the market, filed a case with Ashulia Police Station on Thursday, accusing 21 named and 40 to 50 unnamed people.

According to the case statement, a group of people vandalised and looted the market following Zafrullah’s direction on Thursday, causing a loss worth Tk 60 lakh.

The criminals looted cash money, two air conditioners, three fridges, one LED television and nine ceiling fans among many other assets. They also beat up Sazzad Hossain, owner of a hotel in the market, and threatened him with death, the case statement read.

Saiful Islam Shishir, executive director of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, was also accused in the case.

Talking to The Daily Star, Shishir said, the case was fabricated and false. “I do not know who carried out the attack.”

He said, Nasir built the market breaking a portion of Gonoshasthaya Kendra’s boundary wall. As a result, the authorities of Gonoshasthaya Kendra filed a case against Nasir.

“A court will soon deliver the verdict of the case filed by Gonoshasthaya Kendra. Nasir is afraid that he will lose the case. This is why he is doing all these. He just wants to harass us,” Shishir said.

Javed Masud, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station, said they were probing the allegations.