An anti-drug rally and human chain were held on the grounds of Uttar Shuktgram Government Primary School in Kalia upazila, Narail. A discussion meeting was first held on Friday (26 June) afternoon, with Kalia police station officer-in-charge Idris Ali speaking as chief guest.
Special guests at the anti-drug rally included Babra-Hachla Union Parishad ward-1 member Yar Ali Mollah, ward-2 member Rahman Khan, Abdullah Sardar, Enayet Mollah, Montu Sheikh, Tara Mia Sardar and Fahad Sardar, among others.
Speakers said the grip of drugs in Narail’s Shuktgram had taken a dire form, with many in the village involved in buying and selling drugs and the village awash with them. Many of them were also involved in theft and robbery, they said, and drugs were entering various areas of Narail’s Lohagara and Kalia upazilas through Shuktgram. Those involved with drugs must be suppressed with a firm hand, they said, which required the sincere cooperation of the police administration.
On this, the event’s chief guest, Kalia police station officer-in-charge Idris Ali, said police were working sincerely to suppress drugs, but that villagers had to come forward to suppress drug dealers and give police accurate information about them.
Issuing a stern warning, he said: “None of our police members is involved in the drug trade. Even so, if you have any specific complaint about police members, inform me or the superintendent of police; if the complaint is found to be true, departmental action will be taken against them.” Police members who got involved in wrongdoing were losing their jobs, and many had had to leave, he said.
The police officer added that parents had a major role in stopping wrongdoing in the area, so every child must be looked after well — checking whether a child was at the study table after dusk, keeping track of whether they were regularly attending classes, living simply rather than in luxury, and raising children to be good citizens.
Meanwhile, a human chain was held at around 6:30pm on Friday on the Kalia-Lohagara road in front of Shuktgram Government Primary School, organised by people of all walks of life in Babra-Hachla union. Participants demanded the swift arrest and trial of those who attacked Golam Faruk of Shuktgram, who was injured by drug dealers.
Organisers said that at around 6am on 9 June, when Golam Faruk of Shuktgram went to tether a cow in a field beside his home, eight to 10 people — including, in a premeditated attack, Alamgir Sardar, 50; Mizan Sardar, 45; Billal Sardar, 40; Munna Sardar, 25; Jinnah Sardar, 20; Sagar Sardar, 22; and Jamal Sardar, 30, of the village, along with unidentified others — left him bloodied with machetes, Chinese axes, iron rods and bamboo sticks. Faruk’s left hand and various parts of his body were gravely injured.
The victim’s family and villagers said Golam Faruk had been hacked and injured for obstructing the buying and selling of drugs. Faruk is currently undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Pangu (orthopaedic) Hospital. Golam Faruk himself filed a case over the incident on 14 June, but no accused has yet been arrested.
On this, Kalia police station officer-in-charge Idris Ali said the accused were on the run, and that police were working to arrest them and hoped to do so soon.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report