Mahadi Hasan, member-secretary of the Habiganj district unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has alleged that Chhatra Dal activists chased him over a status he posted on Facebook. Seeing the situation turn against him, he took shelter at Habiganj Sadar police station. The incident occurred in front of Brindaban Government College in the town at noon on Wednesday. Chhatra Dal, however, says no such incident took place and that Mahadi Hasan is “spreading false propaganda to inflate his own importance.” Police also said they found no truth to the allegation.
Mahadi Hasan came to attention earlier this year: on 2 January, while the interim government was in power, he went to the district’s Shaistaganj police station and threatened the OC, saying, “We burned down Baniachong thana; we set SI Santosh alight” — a video that spread widely. Speaking to Prothom Alo by phone around 5pm on Wednesday, he said the incident stemmed from a recent political status on his Facebook account in which he criticised former president Ziaur Rahman and praised former prime minister Khaleda Zia — something, he claims, some district Chhatra Dal leaders and activists did not take well.
In a Facebook live at noon, an agitated Mahadi said he had gone to the BRTA office to sit a driving-licence test and was returning home by easy-bike when Chhatra Dal activists chased him; another person can be seen with him in the easy-bike in the video. They went to Habiganj Sadar Model police station and spoke to police. According to the station, the OC was absent when Mahadi arrived; he reported the chase to the duty officer, who went to the station gate with an SI but saw no one. Mahadi remained at the station from 2pm to 3pm, and spoke to the OC when he arrived around 2:30pm.
District Chhatra Dal denies the allegation. Its district president Rajib Ahmed told Prothom Alo no Chhatra Dal activist chased Mahadi Hasan, and that he was spreading false propaganda to inflate his importance: “He went live on video — so why didn’t he film who was chasing him? That proves he staged the whole thing. No one chased him. It’s his staged drama.” Habiganj Sadar police OC Zahid Hossain told Prothom Alo that police investigated based on Mahadi Hasan’s account, checked video cameras at and around the scene, and spoke to people nearby — but found no truth to the allegation, and no one reported seeing any such scene. If the student leader files a written complaint, police will investigate further, the OC said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report