Councillor freed but 17 sent to jail

A female ward councillor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and her husband, arrested on Thursday after a clash between her supporters and police, were released following an undertaking by a CCC panel mayor that day.
Seventeen of her supporters were also arrested and sent to jail by a Chittagong court.
Two separate cases -- one by Chittagong District Council (CDC) for interrupting government work and another by police under speedy trial tribunal act -- were filed with Bayejid Police Station against 24 people, including the couple.
Police said CDC officials were constructing a market adjacent to Oxygen Intersection around 12:00noon when the Ward Councillor Ferdous Begum Munni, her husband Abdul Kayyum and her supporters attacked them.
They also attacked police who arrived on the scene and began vandalising vehicles, prompting police to charge baton and conduct the arrests, said Inspector (Enquiry) Nur Nabi of Bayejid Police Station.
CDC Chief Executive Officer Sarwar Jahan said CDC owns 34 decimal of the land they were constructing on.
The couple illegally occupied the land, built structures and rented those out. Several cases were filed over the land's ownership and the verdicts went in favour of CDC. The illegal structures were recently evicted by CDC, she added.
However, Munni said she and the locals went to stop the construction as it was above a drain and adjacent to a bus terminal. Its construction would cause waterlogging during the rainy season and regularly create a huge rush in the densely populated area, she said.
“I, as a local public representative, have every right to question construction of any building on public property,” she said.
The Panel Mayor Chowdhury Hasan Mahmud Hasni said CDC took no permission from Department of Environment, Chittagong Development Authority and others institutions regarding the construction.