Arrest of Ctg trader sparks protest
Agitating traders lay siege to Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong city yesterday protesting the arrest of one of their fellow businessmen. Photo: STAR
Traders of Khatunganj besieged Kotwali Police Station for one and half an hours yesterday as police held one of their fellows on Friday night on “false charges”. The traders also brought out a procession and kept businesses shut at Khatunganj for hours, protesting the arrest of Mir Md Hasan, proprietor of Hossain and Brothers. Led by General Secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association Syed Sagir Ahmad and local councilor Nurul Hoque, about 100 traders laid siege to the police station from 10:00am. They alleged the law enforcers had demanded Tk 20 lakh from Hasan to solve the case. However, Hasan was released yesterday morning after giving an “undertaking”. On Friday night, Minoti, wife of Mridul Chowdhury, had filed a case accusing Hasan, his brother Mir Md Hossain and 10 others of beating her son Biswajit and locking him in their business. Minoti told The Daily Star that her husband, owner of Gobinda Store at Khatunganj, and son bought a D/O (delivery order) letters of sugar worth Tk 78 lakh on credit from Hossain and Brothers a month ago and later gave five different cheques to pay off the debt. “As the cheques were bounced on March 23, they [Hasan and Hossain] pressed us for a cash payment while my son sought several days more,” Minoti said. The two brothers called Biswajit to their business centre on March 30. There they beat him, locked him in after taking his signature on a blank paper. They also took away his two mobile phone sets. In the case statement, Minoti also alleged Md Amin, a broker of the Hossain and Brothers, along with a group of eight to nine went to their residence at Patharghata on March 31 and took away 10 tolas of gold ornament, Tk 5 lakh in cash, five passports, a cheque book and some other papers. Following the case filling, police raided Hossain and Brothers on Friday night. Later, Hasan came to the police station to talk about the police drive. OC Abul Kalam Azad of the police station said police did not pick Hasan. Rather, he himself came to them. Police detained Hasan after he was locked into an altercation with them. The police officer denied allegation of demanding money from Hasan and alleged that some traders offered him bribe for not filing the case. About the police raid, the OC said they found nobody at the store. Biswajit, however, declined to comment and Minoti said her son was too terrified to say anything against Hasan. Contacted, Hasan said the family members of Biswajit brought the false allegations against him only to avoid repaying the loan. “We filed a general diary against Gobinda Store on Friday afternoon,” claimed Hasan and alleged that Biswajit remained hiding in a local hotel since March 31. About the allegation of looting, he said the family gave them the cash, the ornaments and the papers as a security against the loan.
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