In Madhukhali of Faridpur, two brothers were beaten to death and there is a heated situation in the district. Locals have blocked the road demanding justice for the accused.
Four platoon BGB members have been deployed from 9 am on Wednesday (April 24) to control the situation. Public relations officer of BGB headquarters confirmed the matter. Shariful Islam said that the patrol is being conducted in coordination with the Magistrates of Faridpur district administration along with the joint forces near Baliakandi Panchpalli of Madhukhali Upazila and Baghate Bazar area.
He also said that the situation in the area is normal at present. Along with the BGB patrol, the village police are stationed with the joint forces including the magistrate. Earlier in the morning, the angry crowd blocked the Faridpur-Khulna highway. As a result, severe traffic jam was created in that area. 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. It was deterred by the use of tear gas and blank bullets in some places.
Mohammad Emdad Hussain, Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Crime) of Faridpur, said that traffic on the highway was restored after about three hours after the protesters were removed. However, there was no casualty or property damage in this incident.
