An angry mob blocked the Faridpur-Khulna highway to protest the lynching of two brothers at Panchpalli in Madhukhali, Faridpur. As a result, heavy traffic jam was created in the area from 11 am on Tuesday (April 23). Later, the situation came under control with the intervention of the police around 1:30 p.m.
It is known that a human chain was called at the Madhukhali railway gate to protest against the lynching of two brothers in Panchapally and the arson of the temple. More than 500 people gathered for this program organized under the banner of local society. After holding this human chain program lasting approximately half an hour, the protesters took out a protest march at Madhukhali’s Eidgaon Maidan at around 11 o’clock. Later, the procession took the highway and proceeded towards Kamarkhali Bridge along the Dhaka-Khulna highway. At that time, when the police stopped the protestors started marching in parts. The protestors, divided into several groups, took up positions in front of Maleka Eye Hospital, Nawapara Junction, Majhibari and Bagat’s Ghoshghat. At Ghoshghat in Bagat, protesters blocked the Dhaka-Khulna highway with tree trunks and set fire to the tree trunks in the middle of the road. At the Nawapara intersection, a truck full of bricks was placed horizontally in the middle of the road to protest.
Witnesses said that the police fired tear gas and shotguns to disperse them. The crowd got angry and at one stage dispersed by throwing bricks at the police. Faridpur Deputy Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan Talukder went to the place at around 12:30 noon and assured them to accept all the demands of the protestors and urged them to call off the protest. But the protesters protested the police firing and assault on them. The Deputy Commissioner assured that the incident will be investigated. But the protesters did not respond to the call of the District Commissioner. Later the police fired blanks and brought the situation under control.
The protesters said that four of them were injured in the police attack. Out of these, three received first aid treatment from Madhukhali Upazila Health Complex and the remaining one was shifted to Faridpur Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, from 10:30 in the morning to 1:30 in the afternoon, all types of traffic stopped on the highway for three hours. As a result, hundreds of vehicles were stuck on that highway from Maleka Eye Hospital towards Faridpur and from Ghoshghat area of Bagat towards Kamarkhali Bridge.
Miraj Hossain, officer-in-charge of Madhukhali police station, said that due to the incident in Dumain’s Panchpalli, they tried to block the highway sporadically from pilot school in Madhukhali upazila to Nawapara. They were deterred by pointing at some places and by firing teargas and blank bullets.
Faridpur Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Crime) Mohammad Emdad Hussain told the Dhaka Post that traffic on the highway was normalized after about three hours of dispersing the protestors through persuasion and force. However, there was no casualty or property damage in this incident.
He also said that to inform the journalists in this regard, a press conference will be held in the office of the Superintendent of Police at around 8:30 pm and details will be given.
Zaheer Hussain/MJU
