The unconstitutional interim government has admitted to having arrested 277 people, including nine children, who were sent to jail through court amid an indefinite curfew in force.
They were shown arrested in four cases filed with three police stations, accusing 3,008 named and unnamed people of protesting against the radical National Citizen Party (NCP) on Wednesday, as the Kingโs party leaders threatened to demolish the mausoleum of Bangabandhu.
Prison sources said that due to a lack of space, 177 of them were kept in the district jail, and the remaining 100 were sent to Pirojpur and Bagerhat district jails on Saturday. Since at least nine of them are children, they are scheduled to be sent to Pulerhat Shishu Unnayan Kendra in Jessore on Sunday.
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No case has been filed over the five confirmed deaths and injuries to dozens of others in a shooting by army and police members, with two advisers monitoring the situation from the Police Headquarters. Autopsies were not conducted on four of the bodies.
Gopalganj Sadar police station OC Mir Mohammad Sajedur Rahman said that they will file five cases against unidentified accused in the death of five people.
Meanwhile, police have filed the fourth case against 54 leaders and activists of Awami League and its affiliate organisations and 300-350 unidentified people for blocking the road and burning two motorcycles to prevent the NCP march.
SI Shamim Al Mamun of Baultoli police outpost filed the case with Sadar police station on Friday night.
The Awami League is enforcing a dawn-to-dusk nationwide hartal on Sunday in protest against the killings.
Reign of terror
Relatives of the arrested and detained gathered in front of the prison and Sadar police station on Saturday.
Many of them were depositing money and clothes for their imprisoned relatives at the prison gate. Some inquired again and found out that their relatives had been sent to prisons in two neighbouring districts. Relatives were seen in front of the police station looking for new detainees.
Samakal spoke to 20 families who went to the prison gate and police station. They claimed that the detainees were not at the scene during the attack and the clash. They are not involved in political activities.
Mozammel Sheikh, who was in front of the prison gate this afternoon, said: “My brother Asif Mollah is 16 years old. He works at the Bhai-Bhai bakery in the BSCIC area. On Thursday, around 5pm, he left the factory and went to take a bath in the nearby canal. The police caught five people, including him, there.”
Mozammel said that he was in the factory during the attack and clash on Wednesday.
Another teenager of the same age, Prince Adhikari, was arrested around 10pm on Thursday in front of his house in the Amtoli Mansabari area of Kotalipara.
His father, Pradeep Adhikari, and mother, Lipika Adhikari, said that Prince failed one subject in the SSC exam this year. Because of this, he was studying at home to get good results next year. He was at home on Wednesday. The couple could not understand why he was arrested.
Rifat Biswas, 20, from Amtali’s Mansabari area, works at his uncle Sohel Hossain’s cosmetics shop. The shop is near the Kotalipara police station.
His aunt Shakila Akhter Tuli said: “Rifat grew up near me. He lives at home with me. On Thursday night, around 10 pm, the police caught him in Amtali while he was going home after closing the shop.”
Relatives said that he was at the shop during the clash in the city on Wednesday.
Abu Daud, 23, from the Sluicegate area of Gopalganj Sadar had worked in a factory in Malaysia for two years. He came home on leave before Eid-ul-Azha. He was arrested near his home around 10pm on Thursday.
Mother Kohinoor Begum said: “I was having tea with my friend in front of our house. Then they caught him. My son studied in Hafizi madrasa. He prays five times a day. Why did you catch him?โ
Ripon Sheikh, a prison guard in Karafat, said that security has been tightened there since the attack on the prison on Wednesday. So, for now, there is no opportunity to meet anyone.
Mamun Sheikh, 22, is a rod-cement trader in the Boalia Hat area of Mary Gopinathpur. The police caught him from the shop around 5:30pm on Friday. His brother Tariqul Islam came to the Sadar police station on Saturday in search of his brother. He said: โMy brother is not into politics. On Wednesday, he is a shop boy. But the police caught him.โ
Binta Bhowmik was crying with tears in her eyes while sitting in the van.
She said that her son, Suman Bhowmik, 35, is a mason by profession. A temple is being built at home. For that, he went to Bailtal Bazar around 10am on Saturday to buy bricks. The police arrested him there.
His father, Sushil Bhowmik, is sick with a stroke. He has become even more ill after hearing the news of his son’s arrest.
Mahindra driver Tufan Sikder, 24, was arrested by the police from Betagram in Sadar on Friday evening. His maternal uncle Qayum Sheikh said: “The pump was filled with oil. He was arrested by the police.”
His relatives claim that he is not involved in any political activities. More such family members were seen in front of the police station. All of them have almost the same complaint: the police have arrested them without any reason.
3,008 accused in four cases
On Friday night, a case was filed at Gopalganj Sadar police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act against 404 leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliates.
Last Thursday, another case was filed at Gopalganj Sadar police under the same act against 575 leaders and activists of the organisation.
On Thursday night, a case was filed at Kotalipara police station under the Special Powers Act against 1,655 people of the Awami League and its affiliates.
In addition, 374 people of the Awami League and its affiliates were accused under the Special Powers Act at Kashiani police station on Thursday night. The police have filed a complaint in these cases.
Meanwhile, the police of five police stations in the district have arrested 277 people in four cases. Gopalganj CJM Court sources said that 277 people arrested from five police stations were brought to the court in two days. Later, the learned magistrate sent them to the district jail.
Gopalganj District Jail Jailer Tania Zaman said that 110 people were sent to jail on Saturday and 167 people were sent to jail on Friday. Of them, 50 people who came to the jail on Friday have been transferred to Pirojpur and 50 to Madaripur jails. Among the prisoners on Friday, there are four minors, who will be sent to the child development center, he said.
In addition, court sources said that at least five children were among the accused who were presented in the court on Saturday.
Curfew extended again
The government extended the curfew in Gopalganj from 8pm on Saturday to 6am Sunday. Later, in a separate notification Saturday night, the district administration imposed another round of curfew till 8pm Sunday.
Although the curfew was relaxed from 6am to 8pm on Saturday, the movement of people in the city was low due to the heavy presence of security forces, the army’s APCs, and patrols by the Navy and Coast Guard.
The district magistrate first imposed Section 144 in the context of violence in Gopalganj last Wednesday. Later, a curfew was imposed from 6pm on Wednesday to 6pm on Thursday. At the end of that time, the curfew was not lifted completely, but was relaxed for a while.
Although the curfew was relaxed for 14 hours from 6am to 8pm on Saturday, the presence of people in the city was low. There was not much traffic. Although some shops were open, the business situation was not good, traders said.
Talking to locals, it was learned that Saturday is a weekly holiday for markets and business establishments. Due to this, the presence of people in the city is low even during normal times. Added to this is the fear of arrest and intimidation.
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