Shawdesh desk:

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders and activists are allegedly facing dozens of ‘fictitious cases’ in districts filed by the police and the ruling party activists on charges of vandalism, exploding crude bombs, and subversive activities.

BNP leaders complained that police had been recording many cases against party leaders and activists, accusing them of perpetrating violence, despite nothing happening in the mentioned places.

New Age talked to some of the people mentioned as witnesses in the cases, and their statements appeared contradictory to the police claims.

BNP alleged that fictitious cases had been recorded against them in many districts, including Khulna, Jashore, Feni, Noakhali, and Tangail.

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Saturday that at least 220 false and fictitious cases against party leaders and activists had been filed across the country since October 28.

In Khulna, local Krishak League leader Abjal Gazi filed a case with the Digholia police station against 105 BNP leaders and activists, including 45 named accused, on the charge of vandalism and a crude bomb blast in the morning of November 2.

The case statement said that BNP activists gathered at the Bogdiar ground of the Senhati union with sticks and crude bombs at about 6:00 am on November 2 and tried to obstruct public movement there.

Being informed, police rushed to the place, and the opposition activists hurled crude bombs and brickbats at police before fleeing the spot, according to the statement.

Police claimed to have seized five crude bombs from the spot.

Some local residents and BNP leaders, however, claimed that the case is ‘fictitious’ as nothing such incident happened in the place at the given time.

BNP Digholia unit convener Saifur Rahman Minto was made the prime accused in the case.

The BNP leader said that he was on the run and was not there during the incident.

Saifur said that the BNP leaders and activists named in the case in fact live at least 10 to 20 kilometres away from the spot.

‘BNP men are on the run. How could they gather there [Bogdiar ground] in the early morning,’ he said.

A local resident and former mill worker, 60-year-old Khandaker Jahangir Hossain, was made a witness in the case.

Jahangir said that he went to the mosque for fajr prayer and noticed chaos after that.

‘There were some shooting and loud noises. I could not recognise the people who were behind the chaos. I did not see any crude bombs. The police asked me to be a witness in a case and signed it on paper and I complied,’ said Jahangir.

In another case filed on November 5 in the same police station, 48 BNP leaders and activists, including central leader Azizul Bari Helal, have been sued in an explosive and vandalism case.

BNP leader Saifur claimed that it was a ‘fictitious case’ as nothing such incident took place there and Azizul Bari, who was made prime accused, was not in Khulna.

Contacted, Digholia police station officer-in-charge Ripon Kumar Sarker said that they filed the cases as BNP people carried out vandalism and blasted crude bombs there.

The police officer said that BNP leaders and the accused were making false claims to save them.

OC Ripon said that two accused have been arrested so far in the cases.

In Feni town, local Juba League member Abul Kalam Azad filed a case with the Feni Sadar police station against 22 named and 30 unidentified BNP leaders and activists for assaulting him and exploding a crude bomb in front of Central High School at Trunk Road on the night of October 30.

The plaintiff alleged that there was a sudden procession of BNP activists who carried out vandalism, hurled crude bombs, and attacked him around 10:00pm.

Rubel Hossain, who runs a motor parts shop in the place, told New Age that he was there in his shop until midnight on October 30 and did not notice any incident of violence, crude bomb blast, or procession at the mentioned time.

BNP Feni municipality unit member secretary Mesbah Uddin said that at least seven false and fictitious cases were filed in the district by police and ruling party people against 165 named and many other unidentified BNP activists in recent times.

Asked about BNP’s allegation, police headquarters deputy inspector general for operations Anwar Hossain said that the allegations of fictitious cases were false and baseless.

He told New Age that all cases were being filed against the accused involved in arson, vandalism, crude bomb blasts, and other violence after the incidents took place.

‘Police authorities have instructed all units to take strong actions against people involved in violence and remain cautious so that no innocent people get victimised,’ said DIG Anwar.

New Age Tangail Correspondent Habib Khan reported that at least six cases were filed in six police stations in the district against 194 named BNP people and 500 more unidentified, while police arrested 168 opposition activists between October 28 and November 7.

The district BNP leaders said that all the cases were false and fictitious. In the cases, police named some BNP activists, who had not been in the district for years.

Tangail district unit BNP secretary Farhad Iqbal told New Age that there were no incidents of violence in the six spots that police mentioned in their cases.

Police had collected crude bombs and petrol bombs and staged those as recovery from the spots, he said.

Police filed a case with Tangail Sadar police station on October 29 on charges of violence and a crude bomb blast, said Farhad, adding that 23 named and 120 more unidentified BNP people were made accused in the case.

CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Shafiqul Islam was made a witness in the case after police showed crude bombs as a recovery.

Shafiqul told New Age that he was waiting near Bera Doma Bridge for passengers that night when police approached him with some crude bombs in a bucket and asked him to sign on a piece of paper.

Shafiqul said that he did not notice any procession or crude bomb blast there at that time.

The government brushed aside the allegations of filing fictitious cases against BNP activists on several occasions.

Law minister Anisul Huq in the past week claimed that BNP leaders were being arrested for their involvement in criminal activities, not for political reasons.