Villagers foil bid to arrest UP chairman
Locals put barricade on Dhaka-Pabna highway at Jalalpur village in Pabna Sadar upazila for an hour to foil law enforcers' alleged bid to pick up Md Ibrahim Ali Mridha, chairman of Goyeshpur union parishad, on Tuesday night.
Family members of Ibrahim, also vice president of Pabna Sadar upazila of BNP, alleged assault on them by plain-clothed Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) men who entered the house to arrest him.
Denying the allegation, Pabna camp commander of Rab-12 Tanvir Anwar said, “Acting on a tip, a Rab team raided Harinarayanpur village of Goyeshpur union on Tuesday evening to recover illegal arms. We did not go there to pick up Ibrahim chairman but the villagers and men of Ibrahim gathered and put the barricade following the rumour of picking him up.”
"A team of plain-clothed law enforcers raided our residence at Harinarayanpur village on Tuesday evening. They searched for my father and beat us as we protested the unnecessary harassment,” said Raja Mridha, son of Ibrahim Mridha.
The UP chairman managed to escape from the spot just before the drive but rumour spread in the area that Rab had picked him up.
Consequently, a large number of villagers including the followers of Ibrahim encircled the law enforcers at the village and put barricade at Jalalpur point of Dhaka-Pabna highway in Pabna Sadar upazila.
They set fire to a tire on the highway and chanted slogans demanding 'release' of the UP chairman.
Being informed, police rushed the spot and managed the situation.
“The villagers first pressed the law enforcers to release the UP chairman. It took quite some time before the villagers understood that the law enforcers did not pick up the chairman and he was safe. Later they left the spot,” said Jahangir Hossain Matobbar, Pabna superintendent of police (SP).
Ibrahim Ali Mridha is accused in several cases but he is now under bail in all of them, the SP said.
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