Rupganj still tense

Family members of Mostafa Jamal Haider, inset, mourn his death yesterday at their village home of Harina Par. Jamal sustained bullet injury in Saturday's Rupganj clash and died at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Hospital yesterday morning. Photo: Rashed Shumon

One of the wounded villagers of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj, who had been hit by a bullet during a violent protest against forced purchase of land for a private housing project for army officers on Saturday, died in a hospital yesterday.
Villagers claimed that three local residents remained missing since Saturday's clashes in which around 10,000 of them became involved.
Meanwhile, tension remained high in the entire Rupganj union under the upazila of the same name yesterday, as hundreds of police including members of the Armed Police Battalion were patrolling the roads, and guarding the army camp that was burnt down by the protesters on Saturday. Business establishments and shops remained closed.
Police filed a case with Rupganj Police Station in connection with the protest and burning of the army camp and some vehicles, accusing 3,000 people. Additional police forces were deployed in the area to avoid further violence.
There are four army camps in the two adjacent unions -- Rupganj and Kayetpara. According to the local civil authorities, they have no knowledge whether the army obtained any permission from any government authority to set up the camps.
The army had also set up an office in the upazila headquarters to supervise its private housing project. Some police officials said army officials were using government vehicles, and other government resources to facilitate their private housing projects.
Local officials said they informally knew that the army was setting up the four camps where army personnel were staying to facilitate their private housing scheme until Saturday's violence.
Meanwhile, sources in the army and in the government who deals with defence affairs said government requisition of army is required when the force is used to aid civil authorities, but there is no bar on setting up such camps to oversee such housing projects.
But they could not give any clear answer to the question whether the army could deploy armed uniformed personnel to guard a private housing project for its officers.
Director of Inter Services Public Relations Shaheenul Islam denied having any army camp at the housing site. He said the four makeshift set-ups run by the armed troops in uniforms were temporary site offices for the project.
Saturday's clash ensued when the villagers were demonstrating on roads protesting against a move over the last six months for forced purchase of 6,000 bighas of land under 24 moujas in Rupganj at cheap rates to develop the housing project.
Bullet-hit Mostafa Jamal Haider of Harina Par village died in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Hospital around 9:00am, the victim's uncle Nezar Ahmed told The Daily Star. Mostafa, who died from excessive bleeding, was a cloth trader. He was shot in the leg at Mashuri army camp, his family members said. He was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital first and then to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics Rehabilitation (Nitor) before being shifted to NICVD.
While visiting the area, The Daily Star correspondents saw many reading newspapers and roaming the streets with photos in hand, looking for their relatives who had been in Saturday's and never returned home.
"We went to hospitals and looked for my brother everywhere possible, but he is yet to to be found," said Shawpon Mollah, brother of Shamser Mollah of Kamshair village.
Yesterday evening, police drove away some local residents as they tried to bring out a protest march on the street following the arrival of Mostafa's body.
At least four persons remained missing when The Daily Star visited the area, one of whom Zumman Ali of Rupganaj village was later tracked down. He is now under treatment in Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the capital. He was picked up by the army when the troops were being airlifted by a helicopter on Saturday, family sources said.
POLICE DID NOT OPEN FIRE
Police denied the allegation that they were the ones who opened fire on the protesters.
"Police did not open fire during the incident," said Md Gofran , officer-in-charge of Rupganj Police Station.
However he did not reply to the question, who then opened fire upon the people?
But local residents said, it was the army who opened fire on the protesters.
Fifteen bullet-hit villagers were admitted to DMCH hospital after the violence. Of them, all but two were shifted to other clinics and hospitals in the city.
Three of the injured undergoing treatment in the city's Nitor Hospital said they joined Saturday's demonstration protesting army officers' move to forcefully purchase their lands.