Rupnagar police station besieged after three locals detained

Several hundred dwellers of Chalantika slum in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday laid siege to the Rupnagar Police Station, protesting detention of three slum dwellers.  

They claimed that a team of police from the police station picked up three people around 1:30pm, while they were rebuilding their shanties at the slum -- which brunt to ashes in a massive fire on August 16.

Hours after their detention, agitated slum dwellers gathered outside the police station and demonstrated in front of the facility, protesting the detention.

Police later released the three detainees, amid the agitation.

Abdul Jabbar, who was picked up along with two others, said, “We did not have enough money to build our houses… Some NGOs extended financial support for us to build houses… Since we started building the houses a week ago after taking loans, law enforcers have been barring us and detaining us,” he added.

Locals became aggravated by the detention yesterday, and laid siege to the police station in protest, he added.

Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of Rupnagar Police Station, said they were acting on directive “from the government” of not allowing dwellers to build houses at the slum site. When asked which department of the government gave the directive, he did not respond. 

Many slum dwellers have been living under the open sky in the area, since the tragic fire. “Some of us were living under the open sky at the slum, while some went to their native villages and the rest -- who have the financial ability -- are living here and there in rented houses,” said bus staffer Mohammad Dulal, who has been living the slum for the last 35 years.

“I have been living under the open sky with several hundred dwellers who lost their houses in the fire… I have sent my wife and children to my native village in Chandpur, as I could not manage any shelter from them here in Dhaka,” he said.

Dulal’s story is similar to many others.

They also sought cooperation from the government, and urged the authorities concerned to help them build their houses at the slum to ease their sufferings.

Contacted, DNCC ward-6 councillor Razzab Hossain said as per local lawmaker Elias Uddin Mollah’s directive following discussions with the authorities concerned, no shanty can be built on the site in an haphazardly, to ensure safety.

That is why police are obstructing the slum dwellers, he said, adding that work is underway to rebuild the slum in a planned way.

On August 16, a massive fire broke out at a slum in Chalantika area of the capital’s Mirpur, burning more than a thousand shanties to ashes. Four people also sustained burn injuries in the fire.