Heyday for criminals

The five reportedly belonged to outlawed Purbo Banglar Com-munist Party (PBCP).

The 'trial', witnessed by over 5,000 men and women, was held at a football ground at Balidha under Monirampur upazila in Jessore on Sunday from 4:00pm till 9:00pm, sources there said.

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Nehalpur Union Parishad Chairman

Md Kamruzzaman presided over the 'trial'. The five--Hum-anyun, Jasim, Rafiqul, Razzak, and Alauddin-- were caught with arms while they were preparing to commit a robbery at a shop on Kalibari road on July 10, the sources said.

The people handed them over to the UP chairman along with the arms and demanded punishment as repeated requests to police to arrest them yielded no result.

But this turned to be a eyewash, only to free the criminals, the sources alleged.

The UP chairman found Humayun and Jasim not guilty. He also allowed the rest three to walk away after make-believe lashes on them. Rafiqul, Razzak and Aaluddin were given 25, 20 and 17 'lashes' respectively.

Business circles in Mon-irampur said they are scared to challenge the UP chairman's action due to his alleged link with the PBCP.

Local police officials refused to comment on the incident.