Sylhet BNP accuses AL of harassment

23 March 2009, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet

BNP Sylhet district and city units have accused the ruling AL leaders of torturing and filing 'false' cases against their activists in different upazilas of the district. District BNP Convener M Ilyas Ali, city BNP acting chief Noman Mahmud, Chhatak Upazila Parishad Chairman Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and district BNP Joint Convener Ali Ahmed raised the allegations at a press conference at Sylhet Press Club yesterday. District convening committee member and former general secretary of the district BNP Abdul Gaffar read out a written statement at the conference. In the statement, he alleged that police recently submitted a final report of a case filed by Abdur Rab Mallik, a leader of the BNP UK chapter, after his house in Osmaninagar upazila came under attack by AL men. Police in the final report exempted the AL men from charges though Mallik's mother and son were injured and his house was vandalised during the attack, he added. As many as 14 'false' cases have been filed against the BNP men while a good number of party men arrested only in Bishwanath and Balaganj upazilas, the BNP leaders alleged. They said police intentionally filed a case against 300 BNP men including the district convener and former lawmaker M Ilyas Ali on charges of possessing ballot papers on January 14. With this case, the law enforcers are now harassing the party men in general, they alleged.