Locals besiege police station as cops beat up 3 women workers

Residents of Gobindrapur Bhullidanga village Khansama upazila besieged the local police station yesterday, demanding exemplary punishment of two policemen who allegedly injured three women labourers.  

The injured are Fatema Begum, wife of Abdur Rahim, Mirza Begum, wife of Ashraf Ali, and Karima Begum, wife of Nilu Rahman of the village. Of them, Fatema and Karima were admitted to a local clinic.

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Moksedul Gani Rabbu Shah, chairman of Alokjhari Union Parishad, said over 40 ultra-poor people were working at the village under a food for work programme.

They were repairing a road, taking topsoil from a nearby land owned by Abul Halim, son of Abdul Haq of the area.

As Halim lodged a complaint with Khansama Police Station, two cops rushed to the spot around 3:00pm and beat up three female workers mercilessly, leaving them injured.

Protesting the incident, the angry villagers besieged the police station for about 30 minutes from 4:00pm.

The protesters later left the area following an assurance by Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Shahinul Alam of taking punitive steps against the persons involved. 

Despite repeated attempts, this correspondent could not reach Officer-in-Charge Krishna Sarker for his comment on the issue as he did not receive the phone calls.