AL, BCL men lead protests, attacks on power offices
Power hungry people attacked and vandalised power offices in several districts yesterday and the day before, protesting frequent outages.
They also blocked road and formed human chain demanding smooth supply of electricity.
Chhatra League (BCL) activists vandalised Atwary upazila Rural Electrification Board (REB) office in Panchagarh on Wednesday night protesting long and frequent outages, reports our Thakurgaon correspondent.
During the incident the REB officials fled their office and took shelter at Panchagarch regional REB office.
Locals and REB office sources said, a group of Atwary BCL activists led by BCL upazila leaders Mokhlesur, Taher and Delwar swooped on the local power office at about 10:30pm and started damaging furniture, doors and windows.
As they blamed the office for failure and neglect, the officials and staff fled the office to save themselves.
Contacted, Deputy General Manager of Panchagarh regional REFB office Razzakur Rahman told this correspondent that they submitted prayer to Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police demanding their security.
Replying to a query he said we get only 8/12 MW electricity supply from the national grid against the demand for 30/35 MW.
In Kishoreganj, agitated people of Austagram ransacked the REB office of Sadar upazila while the power hungry people of Karimganj formed a human chain demanding smooth supply of electricity, reports our correspondent.
People of Austagram yesterday brought out a procession in the Sadar upazila. It was led by Sahidul Islam Gems, general secretary of upazila AL, Samsul Huq Haidary Bachhu, vice president of upazila AL, and Muztaba Arif Khan, principal of Austagram Rotary Degree College.
At one stage, the agitated people swooped on upazila power office and ransacked it.
In Karimganj Biddut Sangram Committee formed an hour-long human chain at the upazila parishad road yesterday noon. It was led by Rafiqur Rahman, president of Karimganj upazila BNP and AL leader Kamrul Islam Chowdhury Mamun.
The protesters alleged that they do not get power supply even for 2-3 hours a day.
Earlier, on Wednesday the people of Karimganj observed a half-day hartal in the upazila demanding power. All shops and offices were shut while the vehicular movement came to a halt during the hartal.
In Khulna, locals outraged over frequent load-shedding on Wednesday blocked a road and besieged a REB complaint center in Rupsha upazila.
Demanding uninterrupted power supply, they surrounded REB's Kajdia complaint centre and blocked the Rupsha-Kajdia road for an hour from 10am.
Police resisted the angry people when they tried to ransack the centre.
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