Dhaka (IANS) Violence erupted outside the Indian Assistant High Commission in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on Friday, leaving at least four people injured, including two police officers. The unrest broke out following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of the radical group Inqilab Mancha, local media reported.
Hadi, a potential independent candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency in the upcoming February elections, was shot in the head in full public view in Bijoynagar on December 12. He was flown to Singapore on Monday for advanced medical treatment after remaining in critical condition at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.
According to the police, the protesters gathered outside the Indian mission’s office in the Khulshi area of Chittagong hurled bricks, vandalizing the office premises in the early hours of Friday. Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Hasib Aziz stated that the police intervention resulted in a chase and counter-chase between law enforcement officers and protesters. He added that those injured in the clash were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Aziz stated that police detained people at the scene, who are expected to be booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, according to the Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune.
Hours after the news of Hadi’s death broke, Bangladesh’s newspaper The Daily Star building in Karwan Bazar in Dhaka was set ablaze by an angry mob early Friday morning. Six firefighting units were deployed to bring the blaze under control. During the incident, several staff members, including journalists, were trapped inside the building. Bangladesh Army personnel were subsequently deployed to secure the area while the mob remained positioned across the street.
In a parallel incident, a group of people marched from Shahbagh towards Kawran Bazar in the capital, where they surrounded the Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo building and staged a protest. Police deployed at the scene tried to calm the protesters, but failed to bring the situation under control.
The attack reportedly began late Thursday night with protesters carrying sticks and rods, vandalising the office and damaging most of its window panes. Around midnight, a group of protesters entered the office and set fire to furniture and important documents in the street, Bangladeshi daily, Dhaka Tribune reported. According to a Prothom Alo journalist, several reporters and staff remain trapped inside the office, as tension escalates in the area.
Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, the student wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP), held a protest in Dhaka, burning an effigy of the interim government’s Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, demanding his resignation over the failure to arrest Hadi’s attackers and the “deterioration of public security.” The group also announced plans to hold a symbolic funeral for Hadi.
“We are not making any demands to Jahangir for arrests because he is unfit for this position. You cannot make demands to an irresponsible home advisor,” Dhaka Tribune quoted Jatiya Chhatra Shakti President Zahid Ahsan as saying.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, to convey New Delhi’s strong concerns over the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh.
According to the MEA, the Bangladeshi envoy’s attention was drawn specifically to the activities of some extremist elements who have announced plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka. India outrightly rejected the false narrative sought to be created by extremist elements regarding certain recent events in Bangladesh.
The MEA expressed concern that the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has neither conducted a thorough investigation nor shared meaningful evidence with India regarding the incidents. India called on the Yunus-led interim government to ensure the safety of Indian missions and posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in Chittagong, amid protests over Hadi’s death, demonstrators set fire to a house belonging to former Awami League Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Naufel.
The incident occurred on Thursday night in the Chashmahill area of the city, where angry protestors also set ablaze a motorcycle inside the house, which belonged to former Chittagong mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury. Confirming the incident, Officer-in-Charge of Panchlaish Police Station, Md Solaiman, stated that around 200 protesters assembled in the Soloshahar and No 2 Gate areas in Chittagong to demonstrate over Hadi’s death.
“They later marched toward Mayor Goli and set a motorcycle on fire at the house of former education minister and Awami League leader Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Naufel. Police were present and attempted to bring the situation under control,” Bangladeshi media outlet UNB quoted the police official as saying.
Bangladesh has witnessed an alarming rise in violence and a degrading law and order situation under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
