3,000 sued for arson, vandalism

A total of 13 cases have been lodged in Dhaka, Chittagong and Narayanganj accusing several thousand people on charges of assaulting police, vandalism and arson during Monday's hartal in protest of the newly-announced women policy.
Seven of the cases were filed in Dhaka while four in Chittagong and two in Narayanganj.
In Dhaka, 181 leaders and activists of Islamic Ain Bastabayan Committee (Islamic Law Implementation Committee) along with around 1,310 unidentified were accused in the cases filed yesterday with Paltan, Ramna, Shahbagh, Mohammadpur and Kafrul police stations under Speedy Trial Act.
In Chittagong, Sub-Inspector (SI) Piton Sarkar filed two cases with Bayezid Bostami Police Station. In the case filed under the Speedy Trial Act, he sued 13 named and 2,000 to 3,000 anonymous people. The named 13 were detained during the hartal.
In his other case, the SI brought charges against 21 named and 2,000 to 3,000 unidentified people for assaulting police, arson and vandalising vehicles.
Around 2,000 Islamic activists attacked a convoy of around 400 buses carrying devotees to a shrine in Fatikchhari around 12:30pm. The pickets vandalised over 100 buses leaving nine persons including a policeman hurt. They also set fire to a filling station in the area.
Two other cases in Chittagong were filed with Hathazari Police Station. SI Omar Faruk filed a case against 10 persons by name and 200 to 300 anonymous people on charges of pelting Hathazari police chief's vehicle with brickbats. In the other case, SI Golam Kibria accused two people by name and 300 unidentified people for arson and vandalism during the hartal.
In Narayanganj, two cases were filed on charges of assaulting police, obstructing police in discharging their duties, vandalism and looting during hartal hours.
SI Osman Ali filed a case with Siddhirganj Police Station around 11:30pm against 55 identified and a numerous unidentified people, SM Badrul Alam, chief of the police station, told The Daily Star.
He said police conducted raids at different places of the district and arrested 33 of the accused.
SI Sohail Rana filed the other case with Narayanganj Sadar Police Station against 23 named and many other unnamed people on the same charges. Police have so far arrested 14 of the accused, said the officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station.
Meanwhile, police recovered a broken service rifle and a part of a walky-talky from a drain near fire-gutted Sheuli Pertol Pump at Baluchhara Monday night. Hartal supporters allegedly snatched the Chinese rifle and the walky-talky from on-duty policemen at the filling station.