Land minister's son, 10 others held in Pabna

Police have arrested Shirhan Sherif Tomal, a son of the land minister, and 10 other ruling Awami League men over attacking and vandalising the house of a Chhatra League leader in Ishwardi.

Police and locals said a group of Jubo League and AL men, led by Shirhan and Razib Sarkar, president and general secretary of Ishwardi Jubo League, vandalised the house of upazila BCL President Jubaer Biswas in Aminpara Thursday afternoon over establishing supremacy in the area.

The attackers damaged a shop of Ishwardi Municipality Mayor Abul Kalam Azad Mintu, also the son-in-law of Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sherif, and the house of Ishwardi AL leader Shariful Islam in the same area.

Local AL sources said there were two factions, one led by the minister and the other by his son-in-law, in the upazila units of the ruling party and its front and associate bodies. Supporters of the two groups clashed on several occasions in the last few months.

Jubaer yesterday alleged that the attackers assaulted his mother, leaving her injured.

Atiar Rahman, father of the BCL leader, filed a case with Ishwardi Police Station on Thursday night, accusing 32 Jubo League and AL men, including the minister's son, and 15 to 20 unidentified criminals.

Abdul Hai, officer-in-charge of Ishwardi Police Station, said police rounded up the 11 in different parts of the upazila throughout Thursday night.

The 10 other arrestees are Md Rony, Jahangir Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Md Mahbub, Prince Islam, Shafiul Islam, Zafar Iqbal, Fahad Hossain, Masum Ali and Md Samsuddin, all aged between 30 and 35 and hailing from different areas of Ishwardi. All the arrestees were named in the case.

Pabna Superintendent of Police Zihadul Kabir said they picked up the 11 on specific charges.

“Police didn't come under pressure from any political quarter following the arrests. The law will take its own course,” he told The Daily Star.

The arrestees were sent to jail yesterday through a local court, said the OC.