Locals saw no instigation

It was a peaceful protest at first and there was no instigation from any quarter as suggested by the acting police chief, witnesses have said.

Locals, mostly youth, took to the streets, seeking to draw the government high-ups' attention to the physical and sexual assault of a woman and her son by an influential man. People from different villages in Kalihati and Ghatail upazilas of Tangail spontaneously joined in, demanding exemplary punishment to the culprits -- Rafiqul Islam Roma and his two partners in the assault. 

None of the protesters had any sticks or brick chips with them, roadside vendors and grocers who witnessed the demonstration told The Daily Star.

However, the protest turned violent when police intervened and opened fire, witnesses said.

The shooting left four people dead.

Asked why they opened fire, Officer-in-Charge (investigation) of Kalihati Police Station SM Obaidul Haque said the police members had no alternative but to shoot in self-defence, as the "protesters swooped on them in a bid to kill them."

He claimed the protesters also tried to set ablaze a shop where cops took shelter to save themselves from attacks by locals.

Eyewitnesses described his claims as "plain lies."

The agitation was touched off by the news of the brutal assault of a woman and her son by Rafiqul Islam Roma and his men on September 15.

That day, Roma summoned the boy and his mother to his house in Kalihati, forced them into a room and stripped them. Roma, son of ex-chairman of Kalihati union, and his accomplices beat up and sexually harassed the two for about six hours, said the teen boy.

The Daily Star is not revealing their identities on ethical grounds. Both of them are under treatment at Tangail Medical College and Hospital.

According to locals, Roma, 40, had a grudge against the boy because he had an affair with Roma's wife. Talking to this newspaper at the hospital on Monday, the 17-year-old did not deny the allegation.

Although police rescued the boy and his mother around 4:00pm and arrested Roma and one of his men from the spot, locals from Ghatail and Kalihati upazilas formed a human chain near Kalihati bus stand on Tangail-Mymensingh highway on Thursday, demanding stern actions against the perpetrators.

The following day, people of several villages under Ghatail upazila brought out separate processions and gathered on the highway around 3:00pm and started staging a peaceful protest.

Several senior citizens said people were furious that the culprits were not put on remand. Also, police did not arrest the third accused in whose house the officer-in-charge of Kalihati Police Station lives as a tenant.

"People had no other option but to take to the streets to draw the attention of the government top brass," said Lokman, an elderly man, at Kalihati bus stand.

So as planned, youths from different villages of Kalihati joined those from Ghatail and started marching towards the Kalihati bus stand.

"But the Kalihati police stopped them on the way. An altercation followed, and at one stage police charged batons and fired teargas shells indiscriminately at the crowd without any provocation," Shafiqul Islam, a witness, told this newspaper on Monday night.

"What was our fault? We just wanted to draw the attention of the government by staging a peaceful protest. But police killed the villagers and later filed two cases against them. What justice!" said a youth, asking not to be named.

He said a few aggrieved locals torched a motorcycle but most of the demonstrators left the scene and took shelter in nearby shops and madrasas.

Thinking that the police action was over, unarmed villagers started coming out of the shops and madrasas around 5:00pm when police started shooting from close range, multiple witnesses said while talking to this paper separately.

The youngest of the four victims is Shyamol Das, 14, who used to work at a barber shop to help his family. The three others are Rubel Hossain, 18, a college student; Faruk Hossain, 32, a day labourer; and Shamim Hossain, 35, who was preparing to go to Saudi Arabia for work.

Shafiqul, a rickshaw-van puller, said he was going home bypassing the crowd when police started assaulting the protesters. "I escaped narrowly by jumping off the van as police opened fire."

On Sunday, Mokhlesur Rahman, acting inspector general of police, said the protest was instigated by a certain quarter, though he did not elaborate.

But locals brushed his claim aside.

"Had there been any instigation, we could have set fire to the culprit's house or we could have attacked police members or the police station," said Sohrab, another witness.

His view was echoed by at least 30 others these correspondents spoke to.

Contacted, Jamir Uddin Ahmed, assistant superintendent of Tangail police, said everything would become clear after investigation.