NARAIL — A protest rally and news conference were held in Kalia after what the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called a conspiratorial extortion case was filed against Selim Reza Yusuf, general secretary of the Kalia municipal BNP; Golam Rasul Mandar, convener of the municipal Krishak Dal; Mikail Sheikh, a municipal Chhatra Dal leader; and other party activists.
The news conference, organized by the Kalia upazila and municipal BNP, was held at the Kalia Press Club on Wednesday evening, Aug. 6.
Before that, activists marched from Choto Kalia intersection through several roads in the municipality. The case was filed at Kalia police station on Aug. 5 by Rahima Khanam, the sister-in-law of Saiful Islam Liku, vice-president of the Kalia municipal Sramik League. BNP leaders and the families involved said the case is a conspiracy filed after BNP leaders reclaimed a shop occupied by Awami League activists.
Sardar Anwar Hossain, president of the Kalia upazila BNP, and the families said Sarfaraz Ahmed Badsha, a paternal cousin of Selim Reza Yusuf, had leased a plot in front of his house from the district council in 2015. After the lease was granted, upazila Sramik League leader Akij Sheikh and his brother Saiful Islam Liku, vice-president of the municipal Sramik League, used their political influence at the time to seize the plot and build a concrete structure on it. After the fall of the Awami League government, Sarfaraz Ahmed Badsha reclaimed possession of the leased plot. Roughly a year later, BNP leaders said, the conspiratorial extortion case was filed against them.
BNP and its affiliated organizations held the rally and news conference to protest the case and demand its withdrawal.
Those present included Rabiul Islam Rabi, senior vice-president of the Kalia municipal BNP; Golam Kibria Mithu, joint general secretary of the Kalia upazila BNP; Ikram Reza, general secretary of the district Jasas; M Rezaul Islam, former district Krishak Dal president; Mollya Bakhtiar Hossain, senior joint convener of the district Sramik Dal; Shafiqur Rahman, vice-president of the municipal BNP; Khan Khalilur Rahman, president of the Salamabad union BNP; Sardar Shahinul Alam, its general secretary; Khairuzzaman, president of the Bornal-Iliasabad union BNP; Jubo Dal leader Golam Mashrur Paltu; Mahinul Islam Mahi, former upazila Chhatra Dal president; former municipal councilor Jewel Sardar; Gobinda Barman, joint convener of the Kalia municipal Jubo Dal; Sardar Tauhidul Islam, upazila president of Tantee Dal; Swechchhasebak Dal leader Waliullah Joni; and BNP leader Quddus Biswas.
Kalia police station officer-in-charge Abdullah Al Mamun said the matter would be investigated and legal steps taken.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report