Registry work has been suspended at the Gangni upazila sub-registry office in Meherpur since Thursday (16 July) following the assault on an office assistant. The victim has filed a written complaint at Gangni police station, and service-seekers from various villages have been left in difficulty. Several said they had come to sell land urgently — for going abroad, medical treatment and other pressing needs — and found the office closed.
The office assistant, Azad Ali, was allegedly dragged out of the office and physically assaulted at around 9:30pm on Wednesday by municipal BNP organising secretary Imon Hossain and others, over allegations that an extra 1,200 taka per deed was being collected for filing (1,000 taka) and miscellaneous costs (200 taka); Azad Ali’s left eye was injured. Imon Hossain told a reporter that Azad Ali could not answer why 1,200 taka per deed was being taken illegally in the name of filing and miscellaneous costs, and that no irregularity or corruption would be tolerated now; he said Azad had been warned repeatedly and, when he did not listen, was brought out, after which former upazila BNP general secretary Asaduzzaman Bablu freed him.
Azad Ali denied taking money, saying: “I was deliberately dragged out of the office in a terrorist manner and beaten, and a false allegation of taking money was made against me. I demand exemplary punishment for the attackers.” Gangni sub-registrar Mahfuz Rana said the office had been closed on the district registrar’s order after his staff member was physically assaulted, adding that if Azad Ali had committed any irregularity there was an authority to handle it, and outsiders should not enter the office to assault a serving government office assistant. Former upazila BNP general secretary Asaduzzaman Bablu said those who did this engage in extortion, which his party does not support, and condemned the act, calling for its proper trial while adding that any irregularity should be dealt with by the proper authority, not by creating a mob. District BNP president and district council administrator Javed Masud Milton said no government officer or employee should be physically assaulted, that his party did not support such acts, and that organisational action would be taken if the allegation proved true. Gangni police OC Mohaddid Morshed Chowdhury said Azad Ali had filed a complaint himself and the case was being processed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report